


I Can Be Your Hero

by WonderstruckSwan



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, familial emma/elsa, familial emma/ingrid, platonic emma/graha, platonic killian/graham
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-10 09:50:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11689149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonderstruckSwan/pseuds/WonderstruckSwan
Summary: To most people, Emma Snow is an assistant at West Co and the adopted daughter of Ingrid Snow. But in secret, she is the sole survivor of the planet Storybrooke, destroyed by an evil queen, sent to Earth for her own protection. Thanks to the Earth's yellow sun, she gains extraordinary powers and becomes the superhero The Swan.Supergirl AU.





	1. Chapter 1

The sky had turned from green to black with fire-red streaks running through from the bombs being dropped from the sky, which shook the ground each time they struck. The citadel in the heart of the capital was almost untouched; Regina and her Knights seemed to be working their way inwards from the outskirts of the city. Emmarae could hardly hear anything over the pounding in her own ears as she attempted to tighten her grip on her mother’s hand while she and her parents sped towards their home in an attempt to reach their escape pods.

No one had suspected her attack. Her parents had been scanning the sky for months and there had never been any sign of Regina’s ships and they had started to assume that Regina wouldn’t’ attack at all. That is, until today when her previously cloaked ships had revealed themselves and started bombing their major cities before moving on to the towns. Emmarae could see the flames lick higher in the distance and imagined the screaming that she would have heard if it weren’t for the sounds of the ships above them.

Emmarae’s father pushed open the metal white doors to their mansion and pulled her and her mother inside. She rested against the wall for a moment and allowed the cool metal to calm her. The walls shook as another bomb dropped and she jumped away from them, into her mother’s arms, who gave her a soft smile.

“Not long now, Emmarae,” she whispered. They ran down the hall and down a flight of stairs Emmarae had never noticed before. It got darker and darker as they descended; the orange-lit stairwell turning to almost pitch darkness. Her only comfort was her mother’s warm grip in one hand the feeling of the wall, which had stopped being metal and become a rough stone that cut into her skin, underneath the other.

Then a door opened and she found herself in a narrow room, lit slightly with dull blue lights. The family stood in single file on a platform next to a track that contained a single silver escape pod. Emmarae looked at it in confusion; there was no way her parents would fit inside.

“How will we all fit in there?” she asked. She looked up at her parents and saw the heartbreak on their faces.

“Emmarae you have to escape alone,” her father whispered.

“No!” she shouted. She grasped her mother’s jacket as tears made her way down her face, shaking her whole body. “I won’t leave without you.”

“Em, you have to.” Her mother bent down to look her in the eye, linking her fingers with hers. “My darling I wish we could go too but we can’t. There’s only one escape pod and you have to take it.”

“I won’t-  I can’t live without you!”

“Emmarae, you are so strong,” her father told her. “And so brave and resourceful. You will be okay. You’ll survive without us.”

“I won’t! I won’t survive without you!”

“Emmarae, please,” her mother begged, crying now. “You have to survive. You have to make sure our family and our house and our planet survives. You have to live.”

“I don’t want to live without you. Either of you.” Her mother pulled her into a hug which her father joined.

“I know, my girl,” her father sighed. “But it’s the only way you will live. When you were born we vowed to do whatever it would take to help you live and to be happy.”

Emmarae closed her eyes. She knew that when she was born her parents made special vows and meant each one with all their hearts. She knew how much they wanted her to leave, how much they must have put into building this place, the escape pod, in order to save her. If she didn’t go, her parents’ vows would be in vain.

“I’ll do it,” she agreed in a small, broken voice. With sadness on her face, her mother kissed her forehead.

“You’ll be sent to a planet called Earth. It has roughly the same make up as Storybrooke but with a yellow sun. And because of its yellow sun you will do wonderful things.  You will fly and have colossal strength and so much more.”  She took a necklace off and placed it in her hand. “This necklace will contain all the information you need on earth.”

Emmarae was unable to speak. She flung her arms around her mother again and then assed her and rushed to her father.

“I love you. I love you both so so so so much,” she sobbed. Another explosion shook the building.

“Emmarae you have to go,” her father cried. She refused to let go of him and so he lifted her up and placed her in the pod. “You’ll sleep most of the way. And we’ll be with you in your dreams.” Emma nodded. The glass was pulled over her.

A sense of immediate panic took over her. She pounded on the glass as she watched her parents take their final looks at her.

Realising it was useless, she settled back in the seat, looking at them out of the corner of her eye as she began to drift off.

_She was running through the fields outside the city with her parents. Her father picks her up and spins her around, calling her his precious darling girl. Her mother tells him to stop being so sappy as she takes lunch out of her basket. Emma laughs and runs farther down the hill. As far as her eyes can see there is fields of all shades of orange and red and yellow. The wind picks her hair up off her shoulders and she spreads her arms so that she feels like she’s flying. Her parents laugh in the background._

_She is happy._

                                                                                                *****

Ingird had urged Elsa to stay indoors after the earthquake moments ago that shook her house and yet here she was, sneaking out of the house via her bedroom window, onto the shed roof and out the back gate, at 10 o’clock at night. But she knew it wasn’t just an earthquake. Something had happened before; an asteroid or something passed her window, but it was closer than an asteroid should have been. And she had heard it and it sounded….. like an engine. And meteors are not meant to sound like engines.

She crept out into the woods just a few steps from her house where she had seen whatever it was flying. She could smell something like car exhaust fumes in the air. She wandered through the woods a while longer, shivering in the cold air, before spotting some kind of marks in the dirt in her torchlight. They looked like skid marks. Elsa did the one thing any sane human being would do; she followed them.

“No way,” she muttered in amazement, nearly dropping her torch. ‘Spaceship’ was the first thing that came to mind.  It was huge, and silver with black streaks she assumed was a result of the crash landing. Smoke was rising up from it. She could just about make out windows, which were cracked. She crept around, marvelling at the sight in front of her.

Until she heard soft whimpering some from the other side.

Without a second thought, Elsa ran round to the other side of the ship to see what was happening. She found a girl sitting against it, maybe thirteen, a year younger than herself. She was clutching her knees tightly and rocking back and forth with a fearful look in her eye, muttering something Elsa couldn’t quite make out. Elsa’s mind raced and she thought about going to ask Ingrid for help.

Instead she crouched down a few feet from her, placing her torch gently on the ground and putting both hands in the air.

“Hi,” she said in a soft voice, like she was approaching a startled animal. The girl didn’t move. When Elsa took a step closer, she jerked to life, screaming wildly and scurrying away from her. “Please, please don’t it’s okay! I won’t hurt you!” The girl kept screaming, her eyes wide as she looked around frantically. “Who are you? Where are your parents?” Those were the words that finally got her attention.

“My parents?” she choked. Elsa could see her mind working. Her face crumpled and she curled tightly into herself. “My parents are gone.”

“Gone?” Elsa looked around. There was no other signs of life.

She started to panic. She was out in the middle of the woods and it was dark and freezing and Ingrid was going to kill her and this girl was clearly freaking out. She had gone back to rocking on her heels, muttering something she couldn’t quite understand.

“Why don’t you come home with me?” Elsa asked softly. The girl’s terrified eyes lifted up to her. “My aunt won’t mind. We can help you find your family.”

“You can’t find them,” she replied. “They’re gone. When I said gone I meant-”

“Dead?” The girl flinched at the word. “Come home with me anyway. We could help you.” Elsa reached out her hand and the girl pulled back. “Please? Don’t make me leave you out here all alone.”

The girl stared at Elsa’s outstretched hand for a very long time, breathing heavily with tears spilling down her cheeks. She lifted her hand and hesitated.

“Don’t be afraid.” The girl reached up and wrapped her hand around Elsa’s. Elsa smiled, lifted her to her feet and half carried her home.

                                                                                                *****

“Elsa!” Ingrid came flying out of the house, her face both furious and relieve. She didn’t even seem to notice the other girl as she pulled Elsa into her arms. She choked back a sob and she ran her fingers through her hair. “Elsa when I checked your room and you were gone, I had no idea what to think!”

“I know, it was dumb and I shouldn’t have gone out,” Elsa muttered into Ingrid’s woollen sweater. Ingrid pulled back and dried the tears on her face.

“Elsa you almost gave me a heart attack!” Elsa’s face began to crumple now. “I told you not to go outside.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Um….” Elsa’s younger sister Anna looked out from around Ingrid and shone her torch on the girl, who flinched back again. “Who is that?”

“I found her in the woods,” Elsa whispered. Her cheeks started to go red as she didn’t want to talk about the girl as if she wasn’t there. “She’s lost her family.”

“You found her in the woods?” Ingrid echoed.

“She was….. well it’s a long story. But we need to help her,” Elsa insisted. “Please, Ingrid.”

Ingrid nodded and took a few small steps towards the girl. She started taking in quick deep breaths and stepped closer to Elsa.

“It’s okay,” Ingrid assured her. “I won’t hurt you.” The girl looked to Elsa of all people. Elsa gave her a quick nod. “Would you like to come home with us?” The girl nodded quickly. Ingrid took her sweater off and handed it to her. She smiled and put it on. “Let’s take you home sweetie.”

                                                                                                                *****

The Earth woman, who had introduced herself as Ingrid on the way home, lived in a small home quite close to the woods. The main room had a large red sofa covered with a seemingly handmade blanket in many different colours and some pillows. Ingrid guided her to it and sat her down, rubbing her hands up and down her arms, smiling at her.

The older, light haired girl, the one who found her, handed her a cup full of some hot liquid. It tasted sweet.

“Are you all right?” Ingrid asked. She could only nod. “Can you tell us anything about what happened? About your family.”

She closed her eyes as tears stung them again. She could still feel her parents hugging her goodbye, see their faces as they watched her leave.

“It’s a long story.” Was all she could say.

“We won’t judge,” the dark haired younger girl promised. “I mean we’re not a typical family either.”

“It’s really complicated. You can’t understand.”

“Maybe not,” Ingrid whispered. “But we can try. Why don’t we start by introducing ourselves and explaining our situation? The older girl, who found you, her name is Elsa. And that’s Anna. They’re my nieces. They came to live with me after they lost their parents. Maybe they’re not so different from you.”

Emmarae just burst into tears. How could she possibly tell these people that she was from another planet?

“Please don’t cry,” Anna said. “It’ll be okay. We can help.”

Maybe Anna had a point. These people had been kind enough to take her in.

“I’m not from around here……” she began slowly.

“Where are you from?” Anna asked.

“I’m from….. I’m not….. I’m from a different…… planet.”

Elsa, Anna and Ingrid looked at one another. Their gazes practically screamed “this girl is insane”.

“Please, just hear me out,” Emmarae begged. “My home planet, Storybrooke, was under attack and my parents put me in an escape pod to flee from it to keep me safe. Elsa that’s where you found me.” Elsa shifted uncomfortably.

“Elsa?”

“I did find her in a ship,” she confessed. “Like an airplane.”

“See?” Emmarae said. “And I was sent here so I would be safe from the destruction of my planet.”

“How can you be an alien if you look human?” Anna asked.

“I don’t look human. You look Storybrooke,” she replied, attempting not to take offense. “Look I know it sounds crazy but I promise I’m not making this up.”

“I believe you,” Ingrid said. Elsa and Anna exchanged confused glances. “Elsa, Anna can you give us a minute?” The two looked at each other once more but obeyed, Elsa stopping on the way out to give Emmarae a sympathetic look.

“You believe me?” she asked in awe.

“I do, sweetheart. Ever since I was a young woman I’ve studied extra-terrestrial life.”

“You studied aliens? Is that your job?”

“No, no. It’s more of a hobby. But I do believe you. No one could make up such a story.” Ingrid pushed her hair away from her face and tightened her jumper around her shoulders. “Plus your clothes don’t help you to blend in.” For the first time that day, Emmarae smiled. “I know that you don’t have anyone. But if you want, you can stay here.”

“I can?” Despite the happiness, she started crying again.

“Of course. And I know I’m not your mother, sweetheart. And nothing can replace what you lost. But we can try.”

“I’d like that.”

Later, Emmarae was being given a tour of the house by Elsa and Anna. It was decided that she would share Elsa’s room and Anna could move into another room.

“I can move into the other room if you prefer to share,” Emmarae insisted. “I don’t want to put you out of your bedroom.”

“Its fine. It means I can have a bit of privacy for once.”

“And I don’t have to put up with Anna in the morning anymore.”  Anna continued to lift some things off her bed; soft replicas of animals and discarded clothes.

 “Hey, whats your name?” she asked. Elsa looked somewhat embarrassed but she didn’t mind.

“Emmarae Nolwin of Storybrooke,” she replied.

“Okay well, if you’re going to fit in on Earth, you may need to change your name,” Anna told her.

“She’s right. You’ll have to pass for human.” Emmarae hadn’t thought of that.

“What about Emma?” Anna suggested.

“Is that a common name?” she asked. Elsa nodded.

“Ingrid, Elsa, Anna, Emma,” she said. “It fits.” _Emma._ She liked how it was a shortened version of her own name. She wasn’t truly leaving herself behind. She was just adapting.

“Emma.”

                                                                                       *****

**_12 years later_ **

Ever since then, Emma continued to live a (for the most part) quiet, normal existence. She attended school with Elsa and Anna. Ingrid had told the principle she was her new foster child and, thanks to a “friend in a high place” managed to forge some official enough looking documents. She ended up attending university with Elsa in New York, majoring in Journalism and Elsa in Politics. She had it all planned out; she was going to join a top magazine and start her reporting career; interview top politicians, go to the sites of natural disasters, follow corporate scandals.

That last part didn’t work out.

Instead she became an assistant at West Co media, a high profile magazine and online news outlet. So at least there was journalism in that.

She was an assistant to Zelena West, West Co’s founder and CEO. A cyclone in green shirts and red hair who took no nonsense and gave no mercy. If Zelena needed a story that would take four days in three, you’d bet your ass it would be on her desk in three.

Emma walked briskly through the lobby and marched up the stairs-no one took Miss West’s private lift, hot latte in one hand and butter croissant with strawberry jam in the other, plus a huge file tucked underneath her arm with this week’s new edits.

“Morning Emma,” Graham greeted as she passed his desk. Graham had been one of her best friends since she started working at West Co. His quips across the room cookies brought up from the vending machine had saved her one more than a few occasions. “Rough night?”

“Nothing I can’t handle,” she sighed as she sat down and placed Miss West’s latte on her desk. “The coffee shop on the other hand was a mess. Did you get your story finished?”

“Done and done.” Graham proudly presented a plastic red file. “Now I can just put up with 50 more rewrites until the Wicked Witch likes it.”

 _I don’t care if there are no seats_ Zelena sighed from her private lift. One of her new abilities was, when she concentrated, super hearing. Which came in handy working for Miss Mills, who wanted her latte in her hand the moment she stepped out of the lift and all her employees to rise to greet her.

“She’s here.” Every employee stood up, some fixing their skirts or ties.

“How do you do that?” Graham whispered as Zelena entered.

Emma shrugged and scurried towards her boss.

“Jemma, make reservations in the orchestra section for Les Mis this Friday my mother wants to see it,” she ordered in a cool voice.

“Again?” Emma had booked Les Mis for Miss West’s mother for the past 4 years.

“Yes again.”

“But wasn’t Les Mis sold out?”

“Use the company credit card and see if they object then.” Emma took Zelena’s jacket and purse from and put them in their usual place before running to her desk and placing the latte in front of her. “You have those edits I wanted in?”

“Yes, here.” She placed the file on her desk. Zelena flipped through them idly before stopping on a page and turning it towards her.

“There. That’s our cover. Get that down to the guy who makes the photos look better.”

“Killian?” she asked, adjusting her glasses. Emma had seen him around in the office but didn’t know a whole lot about him. He was handsome, English, missing a hand, quite a charmer apparently, according to the gossip around the water cooler.

“Yes, him. Now hurry, I have some stuff I need you to finish up when you get back.”

Once turned around, Emma rolled her eyes and headed down to where Killian worked, two floors down.

It was a spacious and brightly lit room, thanks to the large windows, allowing sunlight to bounce off the white tiled floor and white walls. There were some black desks with glossy looking photos placed on them and some rock music playing from a speaker.

“Like what you see?” A voice said from behind her. Emma turned and saw Killian leaning against the wall and smirking. He strolled towards her. Emma tried not to look at his prosthetic hook. “What do you have for me?”

“Um, the new cover, Miss West told me to come down and give it to you.” She handed him the file.

“How many different covers had she considered?” he asked.

“I had a whole file. I spent all weekend getting them off people, answering emails, et cetra. So I hope that’s a good one.”

“Oh I’d say it is. Not my best work by a long shot but it’s still pretty good.”

“You took this photo?” She stepped beside him to look at it. A shot of a young girl looking straight at the camera in a fancy dress. “She’s like some teen dancer, right?”

“Yeah, a prodigy. Went to Julliard when she was 10.” Emma laughed and started to take a look around the room at the photos scattered on the tables. One drew her eye; it was stuck to the wall. A picture of the New York summer sky with something flying across it. It wasn’t a place; the shape was too different, too round. “I got quite a bit of fame for that one.” Emma remembered a while ago; a photographer getting a lot of backlash for taking a photo of what they had claimed to be a flying saucer.

“You’re the guy who took this photo?” she asked. “The one who won the prize for it?”

“And who nearly lost his job for it, but yeah. Killian Jones.” He extended his hand and Emma shook it.

“Emma Snow.”

“Nice name. And to go back to this, it almost cost me my job back in the Weekly Mirror. Apparently it was too outrageous.”

“So how come you don’t work there anymore?”

“Needed a change. Worked in the Mirror for six years and that is more than enough for anyone.”

“What do you think it was?” she asked. He laughed slightly at that.

“You’re really asking me?” She shrugged. “I believe it was a spaceship.”

“You do?”

“I mean what else could it be?”

“So you believe in aliens?” He nodded and his eyes lit up with enthusiasm. He couldn’t stop himself from talking about it once he got started.

“Of course I do. Snow, we live in a big, infinite universe with thousands of planets and you really expect me to believe not one of those is inhabited?”

“Of course not,” she answered, shaking her head. “I mean like you said, there’s millions, billions of planets out there and any number of them could have intelligent life.” She’s know of course.  Not just about Storybrooke, but about the other planets she’d been to. One just next to Storybrooke, Neverland, where no one aged, and one called Arendelle where its people could create cold weather.  Her father had taken her there and allowed her to climb the ice stairs. She remembered him calling to her from down below as she stood on the cliff with icy winds whipping her hair around her face.

“Emma?” Emma jumped back to reality when Killian called her name. Concerned, he moved to touch her but thought better of it. “Is everything okay?”

“Fine?” she sniffed. She would not cry in front of this total stranger. “I should be heading back upstairs, Miss West will be looking for me.”

“Of course, sure. See you around I guess?”

“See you. Killian.”

                                                                                                ******

The rest of Emma’s day was fairly normal. She ran errands for Miss West, fetched coffee and sent emails and edited and sent stories and gave people orders directly from Miss West. Graham made jokes and got her a bearclaw from the canteen.

“Where have you been all my life?” she sighed as she bit into it. “And it’s still warm!”

The TV above their desks, which at the time had been showing some feature about schools, suddenly switched to a breaking news story.

“A bomb has gone off in the Wonderland apartment building, with many of its residents inside, unable to escape the blaze caused by the explosion,” the news anchor reported. “The initial blast went off merely half an hour ago on the fourth floor, causing debris and a fire now spreading towards higher floors.”

“Holy crap,” Graham muttered. The Wonderland apartments were only a few blocks down from West Co.

Emma’s heart dropped as the anchor continued to tell the story. On the TV there was footage of the residents who had made it out calling to their loved ones inside and Emma’s heart broke entirely. This planet, with all its wonders, still managed to make her blood run cold.

An idea sparked in Emma’s mind. She had lived on this planet for 14 years. She had soaked up its yellow sun. She had gained abilities from it. She had tested them before; she could fly, she was amazingly strong, among others.

And people needed her.

It was an insane, incredibly stupid idea.

And it could have worked.

With everyone’s eyes-including her boss’-on the screen, Emma slipped out of the room and crept quickly downstairs. She then sped in the direction of Wonderland, the streets getting more and more crowded as she made her way there.

She quickly backed out of the crowd and ran into a side street, her heart pounding as she considered the decision.

She hadn’t flown since she was a child. But surely it was just like riding a bike? It was inside her.

She closed her eyes. Took off her sweater. Clenched her fists. Blocked out the sound of everyone else and all the commotion around her. She thought back to the first time she did it; just her and the air. She was weightless. She was powerful. She was unstoppable.

She was…. Flying.

She was hovering just a few inches off the ground. Emma let out a triumphant laugh. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so comfortable. So close to home.

Then a roar erupted from the crowd and she snapped out of it. She launched herself up and flew towards the apartment block, not noticing how her glasses had fallen off. She hovered around the top floors to scout for survivors. Sure enough there was a small, fair haired girl inside, almost invisible in the smoke.

Emma smashed the glass and flew in, wincing in the heat. Still, it was nothing compared to what the girl was feeling; Emma’s body was much more resilient than hers.

“Hey, its okay,” she whispered as the girl flinched away. “Just take my hand.” She shook her head. “Are you alone? Where’s your family?”

“My-my dad was at work when the bomb…..” She didn’t even get to finish her sentence before she broke down in tears. Emma felt her own heart break, remembering her father’s face as she left him forever.

“I can take you to him,” she promised. “But you have to trust me.” The girl shook her head again. “I know you’re scared. But I’m begging you. I can take you back to your father. I can save you.”

“Are you a superhero?” she asked, coughing from all the smoke.

“No. But I can be one right now.” She still hesitated. “You won’t do your father any favours with breathing problems.” The girl took a few more steps until she finally took Emma’s hand.  Relieved, Emma smiled and lifted her into her arms with ease.

“How are you so strong?” she asked.

“Magic,” Emma replied, flying out the window and setting her down on the grass.  In the light she could see the ash on her face, mixing with tears and her bloodshot eyes. “You think you can get checked out while I help everyone else?” She nodded. “Good.”

With that, Emma flew up to see the rest. Once she was a few floors up she noticed a piece of debris coming loose. Going by the structure of the building, if that fell, the whole thing could fall, or at least a good part of it.

Wasting no time, she pushed the column back to where it was meant to be, it was a much more difficult task than carrying the girl but she had been given an extra push of adrenaline. She felt her muscles begin to ache, then burn as she pushed it back. She kept going, just a little more, a little more, until it was back in position to hold the building up again. Then using her ice breath she froze it in place.

Another idea when off in her mind. She found the place where the blaze was most concentrated and fought it with her ice breath. Heat raged against cold and she felt herself slowly drain, her energy fading only slightly as she continued to attempt to put out the blaze. When her shoulders fell she forced them up, when she lost height she pushed herself back up. She could still see the fires that engulfed her own world, her own home in the backs of her mind.

Eventually the heat died down and flames went from orange to yellow to nothing more than a pile of ash and smoke. Several more small fires were still burning, but the biggest had been taken care of. She flew inside, finding more residents and helping them get to safety. Once again with her ice breath she managed to put out enough fires to forge a path for the victims to get to safety; many leaning on one another.

And just like that, it was over. The building was practically destroyed but the people were safe and that was what really mattered.  After doing one last circle of the building she fled from the scene, back to the alley she had hid in before going in. Her glasses and sweater lay on the sidewalk.

Emma leaned against the wall until the adrenaline faded. Her heart pound fiercely against her chest in time with the pounding in her head but she found herself unable to care. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths, in and out, until her body managed to calm down.

She didn’t even need a mirror to know about the ash mixed in her hair and face in addition to the sweat. She could see that her shirt had a huge tear in it. Her legs began shaking. A metallic taste stung her mouth.

Then she realised exactly how much she’d messed up by using her powers in public.

“Oh god,” she muttered. “I am so screwed.”


	2. Chapter 2

After the fires were completely out, Emma managed to get back to West Co in next to no time at all, which pushed her to the limits. Sure, flight was just like riding a bike, but like you hadn’t ridden in years and were thrown into the Tour de France. She quickly scrubbed the worst of the ash and dirt and swear off in the bathroom.

Then of course the minute she reappeared (with everyone so glued to her antics on the TV they had hardly noticed her gone), Zelena started demanding for pictures, scoops, stories, anything to give an insight into this mysterious woman. The sports writers dropped their football scores and beauty columnists stopped writing about blush and ran to the scene to get interviews. Luckily, Miss Mills wanted Emma to stay in the office and run errands for her. Which sounded like heaven, sitting at her desk and casually sorting through e-mails with a coffee, but in reality had her running up and down stairs to collect stories and letters from various departments.

With the running and fetching and carrying on top of the strain she had already put her body through, Emma found herself sagging against a wall, letting the metal cool her fiery cheeks. Her legs began shaking and she groaned softly. The last thing she needed was to pass out at work.

“Snow?” Killian asked from behind her. She groaned again, louder this time, and forced her eyes open. Killian was standing with the corner of his mouth quirked up but concern in his eyes and his good hand ready to catch her if she fell.

She heaved herself off the wall, hoping the heat on her face didn’t mean she was blushing.

“I’m fine,” she muttered.

“You don’t look fine. In the nicest possible way.” He moved to hold her but thought better of it and stepped back. “Zelena giving you a rough time?”

“You could say that.” She started heading towards the office and he fell into step with her. “You don’t need to do this.”

“I do, actually.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Not in that way, Emma. I have to see Zelena about a few things.”

“Oh.” They fell into a slightly awkward silence as they began ascending the stairs, the only sound being Emma’s breathing that slowly but surely got worse until Killian stopped.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked. She let out a sigh but refused to stop walking.

“Just a little tired,” she admitted, knowing full well that ‘little’ was an understatement. All she felt like doing was going home and collapsing into bed.

“Anything I can get you?” he asked. Emma laughed and shook her head, wincing as it started to hurt. “I have pain killers in my office, I can run them up to you.”

“Thanks but I don’t need painkillers,” she said as they reached her floor. “Just need to get through today.”

Killian nodded and let her go to her desk while he headed for Zelena’s office.

“Hey, Kill,” Graham greeted absent mindedly, catching Emma off guard completely. “Still hiding out downstairs?”

“Hey Graham, still slaving at a computer?” Killian asked, giving a cheeky smirk before strolling into Zelena’s office.

“You know him?” Emma asked. Her legs were still sore but it was a relief to sit down for once.

“Friend of mine, we knew each other in college,” he explained. “Then he showed up here.”

“What’s he like?”

“He’s fun. Bit of a laugh. Can’t take anything seriously.” Graham swung his chair round to face her. “Do you like him?”

“No. Barely know him.”

Then about half an hour later, Emma had gone down to one of the lower floors and returned to find a takeaway cup of tea, a pack of cookies, some bottled water and painkillers sitting on her desk with a note scribbled on a pink post-it.

_Just in case you need it-K._

                                                                                              *****

When Emma returned home, all she wanted to do was run herself a nice hot bath and slip in, but unfortunately she was too exhausted to even put herself through the effort. Instead she tossed her ripped shirt in the trash and wriggled out of her trousers and slipped into her softest sweatpants and favourite loose t-shirt before flopping on the sofa and turning on the TV.

And what else would be on the TV but her. Well, a blurry shot of her flying around the building taken from a cellphone.

“It was amazing,” a woman being interviewed said. “She was flying, and she put out the fires with her breath-her breath- and then she put them all out and got us out!”

“She lifted my daughter down from that building,” an emotional looking man said as he held the girl who Emma recognised as the girl she first saved. She was coughing a bit and clinging to her father for dear life, but she smiled. “She lifted her down and saved her. God knows what I would have done if she hadn’t shown up when she did.”

“Sir if you could tell this woman something, what would you tell her?”

“I’d tell her she is amazing. And I’d thank her a million times over.”

The program kept going but Emma was no longer listening.  She kept replaying the words ‘she is amazing’ over and over in her mind.

For the first time in a while she felt amazing. She felt powerful, strong. She felt helpful and needed. She felt like she had done something right. Something that she was always meant to do. She had made a difference in other people’s lives.

Unable to contain herself, Emma jumped up and danced for joy (despite her previous exhaustion), a high pitched squeal and laugh coming out of her as she did so.

Her celebration was interrupted by a knock at the door. Emma stopped and composed herself, fixing her hair in the mirror, before running to the door and opening it to find Elsa.

Growing up, Emma and Elsa had been joined at the hip. Maybe it was because Elsa felt as if she had responsibility for Emma-she did find her after all-or maybe it was because Elsa found her that the two shared a heartfelt connection, making them best friends as well as sisters. Maybe it was just how they turned out; having lived in the same home, shared a room, bathroom, meals and even clothes, for years.

In any case, Emma and Elsa had become so close that they only needed a look to see what the other was thinking.

And given the look on Elsa’s face when Emma opened her apartment door, Emma saw she was in for a lecture. Or three.

“Okay, Elsa please don’t freak out,” Emma begged as her sister swept into the room with such grace and poise she practically screamed ‘I work in a high ranking university and my car probably cost more than you could dream of’. “I know it was a stupid idea-”

“Emma, what were you thinking?” she asked. “Seriously what were you thinking? Showing dozens, probably hundreds of people who you are?”

“No one saw me,” she assured her. “Trust me I’ve seen the footage. That could be anyone.”

“Any tall, pretty blonde in the city?”

“There are plenty of tall pretty blondes!”

“Emma,” Elsa sighed, placing her hands on her shoulders. “You could have been hurt.”

“But I wasn’t,” she replied. “Don’t you see?  I saved them. I helped so many people, Elsa.”

“Your parents sent you here so you could be protected, Emma.” Emma couldn’t help but feel guilt then. “So you could be safe.  Not so you could expose yourself. That is the worst way to keep yourself safe.”

“People needed help,” Emma insisted. “And that is what my parents would have wanted. They wanted me to help people. That’s all they did. Why shouldn’t I do that too?”

“I am not saying that,” she sighed. “I am saying you should not be out there, risking your life-”

“Why not?” Emma asked. “If I can do these amazing, extraordinary things, why shouldn’t I use them to help people?” Elsa opened her mouth but Emma held up a hand to stop her. “Elsa, I love you. I love you and Anna and Ingrid more than anyone on this planet. But you’re wrong. I had to hide this part of myself for my whole life. Do you know how that felt?” Tears sprung up in Emma’s eyes.

“You know that I do.” Elsa whispered. After realising she was asexual and a lesbian at fifteen she hid it from Ingrid and confided only in Emma until last year. If anyone knew about what it was like to hide a part of yourself, it was her.

“Elsa as much as I love you I am not one of you. I’m not human. Shouldn’t I be allowed to embrace that?” Elsa wiped her sister’s tears. “I don’t want to hide anymore. For the first time in a long time I have felt like I was doing something right. Like I was doing…..”

“What your parents wanted?” Emma nodded and Elsa pulled her into a hug. “Emma, I-”

“I felt like I had to. I had to help them because I could.” Elsa turned and looked at the TV, where the same man was still talking.

“And I think that this woman is most definitely not human. But I don’t care. Because she is brilliant. And anyone who was going to risk her life for my daughter is ok in my books.”

“There’s no talking you out of this is there?” Elsa asked. Emma smiled and shook her head. “Then I’m with you on this.”

“Thanks.”

“Ingrid is going to kill you.”

                                                                                                *****

Emma arrived at work the next day feeling much better; after her talk with Elsa, she took a long hot bath and spent the rest of the night with a hot cocoa and her sister by her side, listening to her jokes and complaints until she finally fell asleep.

And maybe it was the afterglow of last night but she found herself a lot more content than she normally was. She smiled as she picked up Miss West’s usual order in an overly crowded coffee shop, nor did she get irritated when a text from Miss West popped up on her phone to pick up some columns from the sports section and that she needed photocopies of several different articles on her desk before she arrived.

“Someone’s chipper,” Graham remarked as Emma entered.

“Well, you know, the sun is up, the birds are singing, what’s not to smile about?” Graham raised his eyebrows at her.

“Are you feeling okay?” he asked. “Do you need me to call someone?” Emma rolled her eyes, still smiling, and walked into Zelena’s office to place the photocopies on her desk.

“Turn the news on!” Isaac Heller asked from the back of the room as Emma came back. “I want to see if that woman is still on!”

Graham lifted the remote and flipped to the news. Sure enough, the anchor was talking about Emma’s adventure the previous day and the blurry photo of her flying next to the building. Emma looked down, hoping no one would see the proud smile on her face.

“Well would you look at that?” Graham sighed. “What do you think?”

“She’s….. she’s cool I guess.” Emma shrugged off her jacket. “I mean, the flying and all, that’s cool.”

“She’s more than cool, she’s brilliant,” Graham remarked. “And only a little scary.”

“Scary?” Emma asked, flinching when she realised how loud she was being. “How so?”

“Just, she flies around, she breathes out ice,” he said, shrugging. “I just hope she stays on our side.”

“She will. At least I think, I hope, why would she not?” Thankfully, the glass doors swung open before she could dig herself into a deeper hole.

“Morning all,” Killian greeted as he entered, carrying a plastic wallet.

“Killian, what do we owe the pleasure?”  Graham asked, but he was smiling. “Come to join us lowly writers?”

“Alas, I am her strictly on business. Looking for Miss West’s personal assistant.” He flashed Emma a smile and she responded by rolling her eyes only slightly.

“What can I help you with, Mr Jones?” she asked. He handed her over the wallet. “Just some photos for the next issue that she wanted. Emma lifted one out; it was a photo of the Wonderland apartments just after she’d left it. And another for the girl she had saved, posing with her father.

“When did you go down there?” she asked.

“Soon after I spoke to you yesterday,” he replied. “Miss West wanted some for the article.”

“They’re good,” she said. Killian smiled before turning to look at the TV screen.

“What did I tell you, Snow?” he said. “Big big universe.”

“You think she’s an alien?” Emma asked, willing her voice to drop in pitch. “Why?”

“Well, how many humans do you know can fly and shoot snow out of their mouths?” he asked. He laughed when he saw her face. “Nothing against aliens, Snow. I just hope she’s the friendly kind.”

“That’s what I was saying,” Graham commented. “Emma seems to be on her side.”

Killian checked his watch.

“And I should get back to work. See you later Graham, Snow.”

“Right, Kill,” Graham said, going back to his desk as Killian left. Emma pondered for a few minutes before running after him.

“Killian!” she called. “Killian, wait.” He turned and looked at her expectantly. “I just wanted to say thanks. For the painkillers and stuff. It did help.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” he chuckled. “Nothing too serious, I hope.”

“No, just….. long day,” she sighed. “Thanks.” He gave her a smile before walking off down the hall. She stood for longer than a second to watch him leave.

Graham had his eyes back on the TV screen when she returned. She sat at her desk and saw multi millionare businessman Mr Gold onscreen, talking to some reporter.

“What a jackass,” Graham muttered.

“Well I don’t care who she saved, she could have done a lot of damage. What if someone had been hit with that ice breath?”

Emma’s blood started boiling. She gripped her arm so tightly that her nails were digging into it. Her lips were pressed into a tight line.

“Emma, you okay?” Graham asked. Emma let out a deep breath and adjusted her glasses.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.”

“This man is an ass, Emma,” he assured her. “Nothing he says matters.”

“Yes except he is a very rich and powerful ass with over 40 million Twitter followers,” Emma pointed out.

 _Who does this man think he is?_ Zelena said in the elevator.

“Miss West,” Emma alerted them. As usual, Miss West was greeted by her employees standing to greet her. Emma scurried after her into her office.

“Who does that weasel in a suit think he is?” she snapped to no one in particular as she paced the room. “No really, who does the think he is to talk about her like that?”

“Who, Mr Gold?” Emma asked.

“As if he has ever done anything useful in his sad, lonely and bitter life and is now raging on a superhero!”

“You think that woman is a superhero?” Emma asked, unable to keep the smile off her face.  Gold’s comments from earlier melted away. She had never seen Miss West praise anyone, let alone calling someone a superhero.  Zelena stopped pacing and looked at her curiously.

“Does it matter what I think?” Zelena asked. “The general public seems to think she’s a hero. And heroes sell, and that is exactly what is going to sell our magazines.” She strode over to her desk, perched on her chair and began typing. “We’re marketing her as a superhero, a beacon of hope, a role model-”

“Is that what you think she is?” Emma managed to blurt out. Her boss looked up at her, clearly surprised. Probably because that was the most she had ever heard Emma say in her presence that was not work related.

“I think she has the potential to be that,” she sighed. “And I am not wasting a second in getting here there. Hope, positivity, that rubbish sells, Jemma. Now what appointments do I have today?”

“Oh, um…” Emma ran out, lifted the organiser from her desk and ran back in, much to Miss West’s annoyance. “You have a meeting with Fiona Black at six thirty…..”

“Oh God no.” Zelena rolled her eyes. “That noir coloured nit and her condescendingly irritating proposals will put me in an early grave.”

“Should I cancel it?” Emma asked. Zelena shook her head.

“No, no I have to deal with it sooner or later. I’ve sent these columns down to the colour printer, go pick them up for me?”

And just like that, Emma was normal again.

On her lunch break, while sitting in the cafeteria with Graham, Emma received a text from Elsa.

_Anna thinks she knows. What do I tell her?-Elsa._

Emma didn’t even hesitate.  Anna deserved to know just as much as Elsa did.

 _Just tell her._  

“Who’s that?” Graham asked through a mouthful of noodles.

“Elsa,” Emma replied, angling her phone slightly away from him. “Just wanting to know how I’m doing.”

_I did. She’s screaming.-Elsa._

Emma chuckled softly. She wouldn’t have her messed up family any other way.

That evening, Emma found herself escorting Fiona Black to Miss West’s office. Fiona was the head of a radio station that, despite her less than perfect relationship (in both public and private) with Miss West, maintained a partnership with West Co. She was almost as fierce as Zelena was. Her voice was has strong as steel, her eyes could make even the strongest person squirm and she almost always got her way.

The exception was negotiating with Zelena of course.

All eyes were on her as she stalked into her office, where Zelena sat waiting like a queen on her throne. Emma was dismissed with the wave of a hand and could not get back to her desk fast enough.

“She didn’t want you to take notes?” Graham asked, raising an eyebrow.

“She specifically said not to,” Emma replied. “Meaning this is going to get messy.”

“I give them half an hour before they blow,” he said.  Emma shook her head.

“Longer.”

“Ten dollars says I’m right.”

Forty-five minutes later, Fiona was storming out of Zelena’s office, fury etched onto her face. Zelena stood in the doorway with a triumphant smirk. Through the glass door of Zelena’s office, Emma could see them fighting. Well, Fiona was fighting, Zelena was conversing with a wide smile.

Graham sighed and handed Emma over a ten dollar bill.

“Jemma,” she called, her tone too sweet to be anything but a jab at Fiona. “Take Miss Black out to her car, please. Wouldn’t want her out alone in that strom.”

“No need,” Fiona snapped. “I can make my own way without your assistant’s help.” Fiona straightened her jacket as if to preserve what little dignity she may have possessed. “Goodbye Miss West.” Zelena chuckled as she watched her storm into the lift.

“And my personal lift too,” Zelena huffed. “The nerve. Jemma, in here.” Emma let out a long sigh, rolled her eyes at Graham and followed Zelena into the office.

“Yes, Miss West?”

“Scrap the piece about new communications.”

“The one that specifically sites Miss Black as a leading woman in media?” Emma asked. This was a new level of petty, even for Zelena.

“Yes. If she needs us to bring people to her glorified blog I’d say she was going downhill anyway.”

“So the partnership with GoldenRadio?”

“Is off, Jemma, yes,” Zelena sighed. “Now unless you want our partnership to finish as well, go get rid of those articles.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Emma sighed as she left.

                                                                                                *****

 

Emma had just changed out of her work clothes, damp from the walk home in the rainm and into her sweatpants and was heating up a mac and cheese for dinner when there was a knock on the door.

“Anna?” Her younger sister stood on the other side, her brown hair still in two pigtails (which she somehow managed to pull off without looking like a complete idiot), nestled under a green knitted hat and wearing a purple overcoat. “Come on in.”

Anna smiled and bounced into her apartment.

“Elsa told me that she told you,” Emma said, smirking. Anna grabbed her and pulled her into a slightly too tight embrace.

“Emma I’m so proud of you,” she squealed. “You’re like a superhero. A real life superhero.  Like….. Wonder Man.”

“I think you’re getting your heroes mixed up,” she chuckled. “But thank you. You really think I’m doing the right thing?”

“I know you are,” Anna insisted. “If the world gets into trouble who better to save it than my sister?” Emma squeezed Anna’s hand in gratitude.

“Means a lot, Anna.”

“And that’s why I’m here. If you’re going to be a superhero, you’ll need a costume.”

“A costume?” Visions of leotards and tights sprung up in Emma’s mind.

“Well, think of it as a disguise. After all you can’t have people knowing you’re you, right?” Emma nodded, she did have a point. Anna lifted a sketchbook out of her bag, flipped a few pages and handed it to her. “I designed this on my lunch break. What do you think?”

It was a short, above the knee dress with a pleated skirt and elbow length sleeves. Anna had added a belt, knee high boots and-because of course-a cape.

“You designed this for me?” Emma whispered. Anna nodded.

“Well I thought I had to do something to help.”  Touched, Emma wrapped her arm around Anna’s waist. “I figured you might need a little more cover up, but then again, you’re bullet proof.”

“I think it’s great. I just need to make one little adjustment.” She picked up a pencil from the counter and sketched something onto the top; bird with a curved neck so that it resembled an S.

“A swan?” Anna asked.

“No. It’s the symbol of my home planet. Of Storybrooke.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I feel like if I’m going to go into battle saving this planet I should have a reminder of my old one.” Anna wiped her sister’s tears away.

“I get it. And I can have all of this made.”

“How? The closest thing you’ve come to making clothes is designing costumes for your school’s drama department!”

“And we had the best looking Cinderella to ever grace a stage. Just give me a week, okay?”

Emma looked back at the costume and imagined herself in it. She could see herself

“Okay.”

                                                                                                *****

A week later, Emma stood in her bedroom, windows locked and curtains drawn, staring at herself in the mirror. The all-white dress hugged her figure tightly but left plenty of room for movement. The skirt fell just to her knees, leaving a lot of room to kick (she’d tried). Despite the short sleeves it was warm, which would very much come in handy. The whole thing was secured with a gold belt around her waist. The cape stopped just below her knees and was-according to Anna-fire retardant. The boots reached up to her knees. She had pulled her hair out of its bun and let it fall loosely across her shoulders and taken off her glasses. Finally, her planet’s symbol stood out proudly on her chest.

She certainly looked the part of a hero.

“Emma?” Elsa crept into the room, startling her. “Sorry, I just worried.” Anna stood behind Elsa and her face lit up upon seeing her handiwork. “You look amazing.”

“You think so?” Emma asked. Putting the costume on made her feel different. She wasn’t just Emma Snow, she was the protector of this planet. And the legacy of her own one.

“Definitely. Very empowering,” Anna added. “And if I’m correct, and I probably am, the whole thing is pretty durable, so it shouldn’t wear and tear. Even when flying.”

“Only one way to find out.” Before either of them could ask what she meant, Emma ran to the fire escape and flew into the night.

She sped around the city, too high for anyone to see her. The wind tangled in her hair and the altitude was making her heart race and the only sound she could hear was the wind in her ears.

It was exhilarating to say the least.

She stopped on top of one of the towers, smiling from ear to ear. And sure enough, not a tear on her outfit.

Emma looked up to the stars and touched the logo on her chest. It was the closest she would get to holding her mother’s hand again.

                                                                                                *****

_One week earlier, after Zelena and Fiona’s meeting_

Fiona Black slammed the door of her Porsche as she got out. To say she was ‘fuming’ would be an understatement. No way in hell would she let that witch have the last laugh. Let her start to tear down everything she had built up after years of scraping herself up from nothing.

“Over my dead body,” she exclaimed.

It seemed the world took her literally. Not ten seconds after she said that, a lightning bolt struck her car, which in turn sent the electric shock right to her.

Fiona grunted as white hot pain flooded her. Her arms and legs twitched uncontrollably as lightning made its way through her body, making every inch of her body, down to the fingertips, sting like never before. Her legs gave out and she felt herself fall to her knees and then her face hitting the gravel as the pulses of pain slowed to a steady rhythm.

Just before she gave in and let herself go, accepting death only because it was surely less painful, she felt something roll her over and lift her up.

When Fiona awoke, she realised she was still in pain. Her hands were hot and stinging. She made to move but quickly realised that she was stuck. She managed to raise her head slightly and saw that her wrists and ankles were strapped to a table with some kind of metal.

“Hey!” she called out into the dimly lit room. “Hey, where am I?”  She struggled against the bonds but it was no use. “Hey let me out!”

She heard a door slide open and the sounds of high-heeled footsteps come towards her. Up until then, Fiona had been sceptical but in that moment, her first thought was ‘aliens’. She closed her eyes and braced herself for what came next; she expected something to puncture her skin.

Instead, the lights came up and her bonds were undone. She felt hands on her shoulders helping her into a sitting position and opened her eyes to see a woman with pale skin and black hair smiling at her.

“Who are you?” she asked, her tone both fearful and angry. “Where am I? What have you done?”

The moment she said ‘done’, a bolt of lightning flew from her hand and scorched the floor. Terrified, Fiona pulled her hand to her chest.

“Think of me as your guardian angel,” the woman purred. “And I am here to help. If it wasn’t for me you’d be dead.”

“Dead?” she echoed. “The lightning…..”

“Lucky I happened by when I did,” she said.

“Am I in a hospital? My son, did you contact him?” The woman’s face fell and she caressed Fiona’s face with a gentle, cold hand.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware you had any family. You see this isn’t a hospital. This is a spaceship.”

“Spaceship?” she said, half laughing. “No, you’re wrong. I’m dreaming.”

“I assure you this is quite real. Come.” The woman made to help her stand but Fiona flinched back. “I don’t bite, I promise.” She guided Fiona to her feet and helped her walk, unsteadily, to the wall. After pressing a button on the wall, a section opened to reveal a window, with Earth far below. Fiona’s knees buckled at the sight of everything she had ever known so far below her.

“Are you an alien?” she whispered.

“Yes.” Her eyes widened. “But I won’t hurt you, I promise. Come, let me sit you down.” Once Fiona was seated, the woman perched at the edge of her bed, a good distance from her. “I’ve come to help you. If you do something for me.”

“What could I possibly do for you?”

“Well, let me explain. The lightning that could have killed you? After I saved you I bonded it to your DNA. Hence the lightning bolt you shot from your hand.”

“You mean….. I have powers? Like some sort of mutant?”

“Oh mutant is such a harsh word. Why not try ‘hero’? No one in the world can do what you do, Fiona. I didn’t just save your life, I elevated it.”

“No!” she protested, beginning to cry. “No.  I can never go back now. I can’t go back to my son and shoot lightning at him. You didn’t save me, you destroyed me!” Another bolt of lightning shot from her hand and she jumped back.

“No, no, no. You can learn to control it.” Fiona slowed down and looked at her. “Aboard this ship I have state of the art facilities to help people such as yourself. I have met species with such abilities as your own. After some time with me you will bend these new gifts to your will.”

“And then help you?” she asked. “How?”

“As I understand it, you are angry with someone. A Miss West, correct?” The very name of that woman brought Fiona’s earlier rage back and lightning flew from both her hands and scorched the wall. “You could use these powers to get to her. And by getting to her, you could well be helping me get to someone I need to find.”

The pain in Fiona’s hand stopped. It was still warm, but the sensation now thrilled her, painting a smile on her face. And that smile would only broaden once she destroyed Zelena West. Finally, the witch would get her lesson.

And maybe a few others who had wronged her could learn too.

“When do we begin?” she asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter as Emma's first real battle and her becoming the Swan :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know what you're thinking-holy moses, she's alive! She is and has neglected this fic because life+writers block but I love this fic a lot and want to do it to the end. And I have the next four chapters already planned!

There was not enough coffee in the universe to keep Emma’s eyes open at this point-and she’d know more than anyone. She had started work at 9am and the hands of the clock were slowly crawling towards six pm when she could finally leave. The all-nighter she had pulled the night before to editing Zelena’s schedule to accommodate her new board meetings and interviews for new interns had caught up with her and at this point, all she could think about was going home and crashing into bed with her clothes still on.

“Long day?” Graham asked as he returned to his desk, noticing how she had knocked her glasses askew as she rubbed her face.

“Very,” she sighed, typing out some more sentences and groaning as spell-check corrected her seven times. “I never need spell-check.” When she heard Graham chuckling warmly she raised her head slightly to glare at him. “Knock it off Humbert.”

“I’m not laughing at you,” he said. “Laughing with you.” She raised her eyebrows. “Not working?”

“Not at all.”

She managed to fill the time with work, chatter, chocolate from the secret stash under her desk and work until the clock finally hit six and she lifted her jacket and shut down her computer.

“Home sweet home,” she muttered as she and Graham made their way to the doors, only to be met with Miss West practically apparating in front of them.

“Miss West,” Emma said, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. “Anything I can do?” _Please for the love of all things holy say no_ she added silently.

“Not today, no,” she replied smoothly, tapping away from her smartphone. “But tomorrow I need you to stay til nine. I have a few late appointments and I need you to run transcripts for them. You’ll be paid for your overtime of course.”

“Nine?” Emma exclaimed, forgetting where she was for a second. “That’s-” Miss West looked up, a challenge sparking in her green eyes. Emma took a deep breath in. “Absolutely not a problem, Miss West.”

“Excellent,” she chirped before heading to her elevator. “See you tomorrow. You too Gordon.”

“It’s, it’s Graham,” he called half-heartedly. He shrugged and turned back to Emma’s disappointed face. “Well, enjoy your late night, Emma.”

“I’m going to scream,” she sighed. “I cannot do this.”

“You’ll be fine. It’s just one night, how bad can it be?”

“One night with Miss West and no-one else? Hell falling asleep will be the least of my issues.” They were pelted with rain once they stepped outside, only making Emma’s problems worse. She and Graham ran towards her yellow Bug; she was giving him a ride home as his car was in for repairs. Next to hers was a small black car whose lights switched on.

“Good evening,” Killian Jones greeted as he opened the door of the black car.

“Is it really?” Emma asked.

“Ooh, touchy,” she teased. “Bad day?” Instead of an answer Emma simply gave a smirk and an eye roll before disappearing into the car. From her window she saw Killian give a nod at Graham and wish him a good evening before getting into his own car and pulling out.

“I think he likes you,” Graham remarked. Emma thanked the Heavens she was not driving because she would have crashed the car there and then.

“He does not,” she replied. “Just being friendly.” She switched on the radio, telling herself it was not because she wanted to change the subject.

_“And Fiona Black is still missing. Her son has been suspected of her kidnapping and is currently in police custody. The police state that-”_

“She was a bitch, but no-one deserves that,” Graham sighed. Emma nodded. Sometimes this planet made her blood run cold.

“Her poor son,” she said. “Imagine your mother going missing and then you’re accused of her kidnapping.”

“You think he’s innocent?”

“Of course I do. Why would he kidnap his own mother?” The report kept going until Emma changed the station. Graham gave her an understanding look.

As she passed the front of West Co she was sure she saw sparks shoot up the building, but quickly shrugged it off and focussed on the road.

Too many long days.

                                                                                                *****

Fiona watched from the street corner as employees poured out of the West Co building in their droves, jumping into cars and half running down streets to get to their buses or trains to get home to their families.

Everyone except Zelena West. She was cozied up in her office, sipping on sparkling water and firing out e-mails. Fiona knew she had a late night tonight and it would just be her in the office. No civilians. No extra casualties.

Just her and Zelena.

Black lightening sparked from her fingertips. She quickly curled her hands into fists, squeezing so tightly her knuckles began to go white.

Zelena was going to rue the day she humiliated her.

                                                                                                *****

The office was different once everyone else had cleared out. The low buzz of gossip disappeared altogether, leaving Emma with the sound of the clock ticking, the radiators humming and her computer keyboard tapping for her background noise. There was also Miss West in her office, currently between clients, scrolling through her tablet and casting a glance up at her every now and then, making a shiver run down her spine. Her phone buzzed every now and then, texts from Anna or Elsa or Graham or Twitter notifications, but other than that her only communication was two-to- three-word sentences with Miss West.

At one point Miss West left her office and dropped a large bar of chocolate on Emma’s desk, causing her to jump back. It was not your regular brand chocolate bar she got in the mini market on her way to work. This was the real stuff. She looked up at Zelena and raised an eyebrow.

“I figured since you’re here overtime you’ll need your energy,” Zelena sighed.

“Thanks Miss West,” Emma said, smiling a little as she slid the bar under her desk. Maybe there was more to her steely-eyed boss than there seemed.

“I want those transcripts completed before you leave.” She marched back into her office and closed the door, cutting them off from each other again.

“And she’s back,” Emma sighed, working her way through the transcripts again.

As Emma went on working, her computer began glitching. Emma groaned but then frowned. These computers weren’t even six months old. State of the art too. No way they could be glitching. But she watched as her screen flicked on and off before her eyes. She managed to save her file. God only knows the wrath she’d feel if she lost it.

Over her head the lights flickered on and off too. Miss West had come out of her office and was staring up at the lights.

“Something wrong with the power?” Emma asked.

“Can’t be,” she replied. “Maintaince did a check yesterday and nothing came up unusual.” She lifted her phone out of her pocket. “No signal. No WiFi. Yourself?”

“Same.” Emma flipped on her 4G. Best to be prepared, she thought. “Maybe the weather?”

“City’s survived worse weather than this,” Zelena said. She made her way to the elevator, motioning for her to follow, only to jump back once she touched the button. “It, it zapped me!”

“Miss West, look.” Black lightning bolts zipped up and down the lift, cascading over the metal. The two of them stepped back in perfect synchronisation.  “What is this?”

Before either of them could come up with a reply, the lightning shot at them, causing them both to duck just in time. Emma was pretty sure her hair still got singed.

“Over here, Zelena,” a voice called from behind them.

“Is that…..” Zelena asked. They looked up to see Fiona Black standing in their office.

Well, it looked like Fiona Black. It had her face for sure. But she looked…. Different. Her normally neat and straight hair was wild, her black pantsuits replaced by a tight black sleeveless top, equally tight black leather trousers and high heeled, knee length boots. Her eyes, usually so focussed, were darting everywhere, glinting with madness. And the most alarming detail, black lightning sparked at her fingertips.

“Fiona?” Zelena asked.

“Fiona is dead.” Her voice was strange; it sounded like it was coming through a telephone. It was too fast and eerily gleeful. “I’m the Black Fairy.” She raised her hands. “And you’ll pay for humiliating me.”

Before Zelena could know what was going on, Emma tackled her to the floor just as the Black Fairy’s bolt hit the wall. Without even communicating they headed for the stairs, keeping their hands off the metal walls.

“You can run but you can’t hide from me!” the Black Fairy taunted. “I will find you Zelena Mills.”

Emma pulled Zelena into a broom closet on the floor below. Her hair stuck to her forehead with sweat, the hot and claustrophobic nature of the closet was not helping there, and a foul taste lingered in her mouth.

“How the hell can she do that?” Zelena asked. “What has she become?”

“I don’t know,” Emma sighed. “But I think how she became that is the least of our problems. We need a way out of here.”

“We have one,” Zelena said, realisation lighting up her eyes. “You have one.”

“What?” Emma muttered.

“She wants me. That’s all she wants. I go up here and-”

“No!” Emma exclaimed, then she winced when she realised Fiona could have heard her. “No, I will not leave you in here!”

“Well I don’t hear you offering a better solution!” Zelena hissed. “Miss Snow, you can leave. You have a chance to get out of here alive.”

“Not if it means leaving you to die,” she said.

“Emma, we don’t have time to argue.” As if on cue, they heard lightning crackle above them. “I’m a big girl Emma. I can take care of myself. Now go!”

Zelena opened the door and pushed Emma towards the stairs. Emma looked back at Miss West, but she was already marching up the stairs. Once she was sure she was out of sight, Emma dashed back into the closet and pulled off her shirt.

Maybe Emma couldn’t help. But she knew someone who could.

                                                                                                *****

“Well Fiona,” Zelena addressed the empty room. “Or Black Fairy. I’m here.” Lightning bolts snapped on every wall until she felt like they were closing in on her. “Never took you for a coward, Fiona. Now at least have the dignity to face me.”

“I am not a coward,” Fiona said form behind her. Zelena took a few steps forward before turning around.

“Well, well. The new clothes are nice although I am not a fan of the hair. Maybe try conditioner?” Fiona snarled and stepped closer. “Is this the part where you finish me?”

“Indeed.” Zelena gulped as she raised her hand, the ball in her hand getting bigger and brighter. “You will be sorry you ever hurt me.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” she muttered. Fiona pulled her arm back to deliver the blow.

In the next instant, Fiona was crashed into the wall. In her place stood a blonde-haired woman in a white dress, boots and cape.

“You!” Zelena exclaimed. The woman looked back at her.

“Yes, it’s me,” she said. “Now get out of here.”

“No one is going anywhere!” Fiona shouted, struggling to her feet. Her eyes were wide now, and they landed on the woman. “You!” She sounded almost giddy. “She told me all about you.”

“Who told you about me?”

“The woman who saved me. She is very interested in you.”

“Fiona, you’re confused,” the woman said, stepping slightly closer and extending her hand. “Let me help. We can take you somewhere where you can figure out what happened to you and maybe help you get your normal life back.”

Fiona’s hand wrapped around hers.

“My normal life?” The woman nodded, the hints of a smile on her face. “Why on earth would I want that back?”

Fiona squeezed her hand and lightning began coursing through the woman’s body. She yelped in surprise but managed to somehow hold her ground.

“Let her go Fiona!” Zelena shouted. “You want me, not her!”

“Fiona, listen to me,” the woman whispered as her knees began to bend. “You’re better than this. These powers you have do not control you, you control them. You don’t have to hurt people if you don’t want to.”

“But I do want to, dear.” She flung the woman to the side and she crumpled weakly on the ground before advancing on Zelena. But before Zelena had any time whatsoever to react, Fiona was met by a blast of ice-cold wind. Zelena looked up and saw they came from the woman’s mouth. She stopped when Fiona fell to the ground and she ran over to them.

“Give up?” she asked with a triumphant smile. Shivering, Fiona made it to her feet, glaring daggers at the woman, apparently forgetting Zelena. She tried to throw a bolt at her, but nothing came out of her hand. She tried again. Nothing. “Short circuit?”

With nothing left to try, Fiona became a bolt of lightning and flew into the roof.

“Are you okay Miss West?” the woman asked.

“I think so,” she said. Her heart was still going into overdrive and her legs turned to jelly, but otherwise she was alright. “Fiona, how could she-”

“I have no idea. But that’s not what’s important. What’s important is getting you out of here.”

“No, it’s not,” Zelena said. “She won’t ever stop until she gets me, will she?” The woman didn’t answer. “Will she?”

“I don’t know,” she replied.

“Then we give her what she wants. We give her me.”

“Do you have a death wish, Miss West?”

“Use me as bait, genius. Use me to lure her out.”

“And then what? I don’t even know if I can defeat her.” Zelena combed through her mind for a solution. She looked out at the rain outside.

“Water and electricity. Bad combination.”

                                                                                                *****

Emma stood nervously in the back of West Co. Zelena’s plan was ingenious. But also incredibly dangerous.

As she waited for Zelena to be ready she replayed the scene with Fiona over again. “She” had an interest in her. Whoever “she” was. Someone on this planet knew about her. About who she was. Did they know about Emma Snow? About Ingrid, Elsa, Anna? What did this mean for her?

“Hey,” Zelena called, snapping her out of her daydream. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” Emma stepped back into the shadows.

“Hey Fiona,” Zelena called. “Still have a bone to pick with me?” Seconds stretched out and nothing happened. “Never took you for a chicken, Fiona.”

“I’m not.” The voice, the distorted and wild voice, came from the sky. A bolt of lightning came from the telephone wires and took the shape of Fiona. “Never knew you had a death with, West. What happened to your little hero?”

“I don’t need anyone else to fight my battles for me,” she said. “Now come on. If this will give you some peace, then so be it.”

Just as Fiona raised her arm to attack, Emma leapt into action. Zelena ducked out of the way and Fiona was pushed into the puddle behind her. It was not without pain; Emma felt shocks travel up and down her arms, but nothing she could not handle. Once she was in the puddle, Emma shot a foot or so upwards to watch as she twitched and shook helplessly. Just to be sure, she blew some ice breath on her as Zelena called the cops.

She jumped when she saw a flash out of the corner of her eye. She turned to investigate only to find no-one was behind her.

Before the cops could arrive, an unmarked black van pulled up outside and ran towards them. Emma shot upwards and perched on the roof of West Co, hiding behind a chimney pot. She watched as a thin blonde-haired woman spoke to Zelena while her companions managed to lift Fiona out of the puddle and unload her into a box which was then put into the van.

The van pulled out of the alleyway and Emma decided to go back down to Zelena.

“Friends of yours?” she asked.

“Never seen them before in my life,” she confessed. “What did they say to you?”

“Just asking me if I was okay.”

“And… are you?”

“I don’t know. I mean that is definitely the first time I have ever been attacked by a human taser.”

“Do you need a lift home?” Emma asked. “And I do sort of mean that in a literal sense.”

“No, no its fine I can drive.” Zelena’s eyes lit up and she saw her boss come back. “Although now that you’re here….”

“What?”

“Give me an interview,” she demanded.

“What? Interview?” Emma asked. “No, no I do not do interviews.” _Especially not with my own boss._

“Oh, come on. You’ve got to give one eventually. Just a few questions about yourself. You could use a powerful ally in the media.”

“Maybe another time Miss West. Stay safe.” Before Zelena could get another word in, Emma flew up into the sky, laughing at the image of Zelena begging for a scoop.

                                                                                                ******

Emma had already prepared herself for the shitstorm work would be the next day. She had prepared herself for the gossip and rumours and spent all night planning her “completely shocked” face. What she had not planned was Graham running to hug her the minute she stepped through the doors.

“Graham, I saw you yesterday,” she laughed.

“I know, but with the attack last night, and you didn’t answer your phone, I thought something had happened,” he explained. Emma felt a punch in the gut. She should have thought about him. She had called Elsa and Anna almost immediately after she got home to assure them she was ok and give a condensed version of what happened. Graham had completely slipped her mind.

“Oh God Graham I’m so sorry,” she sighed. “I should have called you but with all the chaos-”

“I’m just glad you’re alive, Emma,” he replied, stepping back from her a bit. “But what happened? Did you see her?”

Emma thanks every god from every religion she could think of when she heard Miss West coming up in her elevator, saving her from an awkward exchange with Graham.

“Miss West!” The employees stood to greet Zelena, who marched in so coolly that you would not think that she was attacked by a mutant the previous night.

“Good to see you,” she said softly as Emma scurried behind her into her office.

“You too Miss West. I’m just so relieved to see that you’re okay.” Zelena brushed an imaginary lock of hair away from her face.

“Well physically I am fine but mentally, not so much,” she sighed. “And here I was so close…..”

“Um, Miss West?” Emma asked. Zelena looked up as if she had not noticed that Emma was even there.

“Oh yes well, um, the transcripts?”

“Still on my computer,” she said. “I didn’t exactly get a chance to print them.”

“Oh, yes, true. Um, cancel all my appointments, answer all my e-mails with a ‘no’ or ‘maybe’. Do not let anyone talk to me.” She perched behind her desk and started furiously typing. “Also get me a very large cappuccino.”

“But I have your coffee order here.” Emma placed the cup on the desk.

“Get me another coffee.”

 _Well Emma_ she thought as she left _your time as a hero is over it seems._

No sooner had she sat down than Killian Jones came into the office with a transparent plastic wallet. He strode over to Emma’s desk and looked between her and Miss West’s office.

“Miss West isn’t taking any visitors today,” she said.

“So, everything goes through you?” he asked.

“Indeed.” He handed her the wallet.

“Not requested from her but when she has a minute, tell her she’ll want to see it.” Out of curiosity, Emma turned over the wallet. There was a picture of her, as the “superhero”, standing over a defeated Black Fairy.

_The flash. A camera flash._

“You saw it?” she asked. He nodded, smirking.

“Saw her in action. You should have been there Emma she was magnificent.”

“You could have been hurt.” He simply shrugged.

“How did you come upon that?”

“Well it was a chance encounter really. I was on my way home from a meeting with a mate of mine, nothing too fancy, and then I passed them. And a woman shooting ice from her mouth is something that catches your eye. Before I even knew what was happening I snapped the pictures.”

“Well you got lucky. Who knows what could have happened to you.”

“Speaking of,” he knelt and propped his chin up on her desk. “I heard you worked overtime last night. Are you okay?”

“Fine. I got out safe.” He gave her another, warmer smile. “Zelena told me to leave.”

“Ah, so the Wicked Witch has a heart, does she?”

“Tin Man,” Emma corrected. He raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“The Tin Man didn’t have the heart. I was only half paying attention to that fairytale and I knew that.”

“Wizard of Oz isn’t a fairytale is it though?”

“Gosh are you always this irritating?” she asked, but she was smiling. Sure, he was a bit annoying, but it was funny at the same time and it was certainly a welcome distraction from her work.

“Glad you were okay, love.” Emma felt a light sensation run down her spine when he called her love and tried to ignore it.

“I’ll get these to Miss West the first chance I can. You’re right she’ll want to see them.”

“Thanks. Well I should get back to my little hermit hole.” He gave a nod to Graham before making his way back out.

“What’s in the wallet then?” Graham asked. Emma shook her head like she could physically shake his presence away. And shake that dumb smile off her lips.

“This.” Emma held up the photo and watched Graham’s eyes widen. “Miss West is going to want to see this.”

“Miss West is going to want to see what Jemma?” Zelena asked from behind her, causing to jump ten feet high. She turned to see her boss standing right at her desk, perfect eyebrows raised. Unable to speak, she simply handed her the picture. Zelena’s mouth dropped rather unceremoniously before she composed herself. “Who took this?”

“Killian Jones.”

“Who?” Zelena asked, eyebrow quirking in confusion.

“Killian Jones.” Zelena remained looking confused.

“The guy who works downstairs and makes pictures look good,” Graham chimed in helpfully.

“Ah yes, thank you. Well he’s getting a day off.” She swept back into her desk and resumed typing.

“What do you suppose she’s cooking up in her cauldron in there?” he asked. Emma looked at him. “Well if we continue with the witch metaphor.”

“I have an idea,” she sighed.

She was proven right of course. She hadn’t even made it to the coffee maker at her place before she checked the WestCo online page and saw her at the top of the page. Well, not her exactly, her….. alter-ego? Emma laughed as she looked at herself, all powerful and strong on the top story of a major news outlet. The skimmed through the words, not really reading as such, until she was interrupted by a call from Elsa.

“I know I’m looking at it,” Emma said as soon as she picked up.

“Emma, I am so proud of you,” Elsa said.

“Don’t get all mushy on me sis.”

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“I got a little scraped, but I walked it off, you know how it is.”

“Um, I’ll pretend for your sake that I do,” Elsa laughed. “Have you read the article?”

“Just skimmed it. Give me a break okay, I just got up. Not all of us can function from 6am like you.”

“Well the words used are role-model, hero and pillar of strength.”

“And Zelena wrote it?” Emma laughed. “I have never seen any article of hers that isn’t remotely critical.”

“Maybe if she knew it was you she’d give you a raise.”

“The guy who took the pictures got a day off.” Emma heard some commotion behind Elsa.

“Okay I have to go now, but I’m proud of you. And read the damn article!”

“Love you too Elsa, bye!”

Emma looked at the article once more, bathing in the praise that was heaped on her.

She stopped at the last sentence and frowned. It read _“some see her as a menace, a monster. But those people know nothing. Because I and the people of New York City see the Swan for what she is. A hero, who will protect this city as best she can.”_

“The Swan?” Emma asked aloud. She always liked swans. And her family’s symbol did look like the bird. And the white outfit probably didn’t help. Was it referencing her grace, poise? Swans were strong too, right? She combed back through her memory to seventh grade. “Well, I suppose there are worse nicknames for a hero to have.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: another fight and Emma and Killian have more than one scene together!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo, guess who's back? I have no excuse for the delay . Comments and reviews are greatly appreciated.

The buzz around the Swan had refused died down in the weeks after her fight with Fiona. There had been no more attacks form mutated lightening monsters for Emma to take down, so her outfit remained hanging in her wardrobe. She hadn’t even taken it out for a quick fly around the city, despite the fact she remained itching to get out there. It was making her restless, like something else inside of her was pushing to get out, her Storybrooke side. After being suppressed for so long, it was saying ‘not again, don’t push me out again’ and she wanted to listen to it.

Even though the Swan hadn’t resurfaced in the last weeks, her fanbase hadn’t. The city made the most of it; putting up a plaque at the place where she had taken down the Black Fairy and at the Wonderland apartments, selling t-shirts with her logo on it (that made her a little uncomfortable, but she could get by), mugs with her face on it (which Isaac in her office had and she nearly had a heart attack). She saw little girls posing heroically in the spot where she had defeated Fiona and she had admitted to Elsa that night, that was almost as rewarding as saving the city.

Killian had gotten more than a day off for his achievement of taking the photo. He had been in a few local news interviews, all desperate to get the story from the man who saw the Swan in the flesh and had met the Mayor. There were even rumours of him being considered for a Pulitzer.

She joked to him at the coffee machine that it was a marvel his head even fit on his shoulders any more.

“All I did was snap a lucky picture, Snow,” he pointed out. “Honestly if anyone should be meeting the Mayor it’s this Swan woman. Who seems to have disappeared into thin air.”

“Well, I’m sure she’ll appear once a new crisis emerges.” She giggled to herself as she sipped her coffee.

“Well if she can keep getting me raises and fame, she can stick around as long as she liked,” he joked. “Plus, I’d like to see her back again. She was…. Inspiring.”

“Inspiring?” Emma smiled, ignoring the sense of pride flowing through her as she and Killian made their way back to her office.

“Well who wouldn’t be inspired by her?”

“Mr. Gold,” Emma huffed. Mr Gold seemed to be the only one who was not a fan of hers. For every positive interview or article about her, he Tweeted three negatives.

“Yes, well he is so up his own arse he expects everyone to call him Mr.” Emma choked on her coffee as she laughed. She leaned against her desk, throwing her hair back, not wanting this conversation to end. “Since when did the opinion of one single misogynistic douchebag matter?”

“I’ll drink to that,” she chuckled, toasting him with her coffee. Killian blushed slightly and looked around the room, licking the corner of his mouth slightly.

“And I am in your office. Where I should not be.”

It was like a spell had been broken. The light feeling in Emma’s stomach disappeared, that sensation of being weightless and carefree that she had had since she started talking to him. She straightened up suddenly and gave him an awkward smile.

“Well, thank you for walking me up,” she offered.

“I suppose I should return to my hovel now,” he said. He gave her a nod and turned to leave but was met with Zelena walking out of her office.

“You,” she said. “You don’t go here.”

“No, Miss West, I am on my way to my studio now,” he replied, but she waved his hand to dismiss him.

“No, stay here. I have an announcement that concerns you,” she said. He nodded and stepped back towards Emma, raising an eyebrow at her.

Zelena clapped twice, sharp and quick, and her employees snapped up to her attention.

“Mr Gold has decided to host a gala on Saturday night for his company to celebrate 50 years of him lording his wealth that Daddy gave him over the rest of us and, as per usual I have been invited. Emma, as my PA I need you to attend.” Emma looked over at Graham, mouth open. Zelena had never invited her to go any fancy parties with her. This was unusual indeed, but she wasn’t objecting. “Graham, you’re coming too, I like you and you’re one of the most respectable people here.” Graham smiled, clearly content with that remark. “That’s not exactly a compliment when you think of who works here.” His shoulders drooped, and Emma mouthed an “ouch” at him. “And you, photo man, Kieran.”

“Killian,” he corrected.

“Yes, you’re coming too. You make us look good. Plus, you took photos of the Swan, so your presence will probably piss him off. You three check your emails for the details I’ve forwarded them to you. And the rest of you…. Work harder. Then maybe you can be invited places.”

She turned and marched back into her office, the door clicking behind her, leaving an air of annoyance and excitement among her employees.

“Well, now. Guess us three lucky ones better get ourselves cleaned up for this shin-dig,” Killian said, looking from Emma to Graham. “Hard work pays off.”

“Yeah, you two get that, I got ‘you have to go because you’re my PA’,” Emma reminded him.

“And that makes you the most important player in the game, Snow,” Killian said. “Well I really must be going but I will see you two in all your finery on Saturday.”

He winked at Emma and strutted out the door. Emma pressed her cool hand to her face to try to force the red to leave, telling herself that she was simply overwhelmed with the excitement of the gala. Nothing else.

                                                                                                                                   *****

Emma made her way down to the water cooler with her now empty sports bottle. Elsa had been leaving not so subtle hints that she wanted her to drink more water since they were teenagers but now that Emma was an official superhero, they had become more frequent and somehow more passive aggressive, to the point of buying her a Snow White themed sports bottle from the Disney store.

“We must stop running into each other lass,” a familiar voice joked behind her as she filled up her bottle. Emma couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she turned to face Killian. “Anyone would think you’re doing this on purpose.”

“Me?” she laughed. “You’re the one who keeps running into me.”

“Aye, that I do.” The look he had in his eyes made her stomach flip. She was so sure she imagined that interested look in those blue eyes, like he was fascinated by her. She rubbed the back of her neck and stepped aside to let him use the water cooler.

“So, how goes work up here?” he asked. He was taking his time with filling his plastic cup.

“Oh, you know, I’ve been on my feet all day and Zelena has me sending e-mails faster than one could receive them,” she sighed. “Yourself?”

“Well it’s a bit slow down here,” he confessed. “But here’s to demanding work.” He tapped his plastic cup against her sports bottle.

“What do you even do when you’re not out taking pictures of superheroes?” she asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Well,” he began, cocking his head and smiling. “Mostly adding edits to the pictures, making sure they are the top quality that our good magazine deserves. Or indeed e-mailing our lovely journalists photos they need or asking what they need photographed. Or on the phone to some company that I need to convince to let me photograph something or other.” He ran his long along his bottom lip, sending a shiver down Emma’s spine, and straightened up. “Tell you what, love. If you’re not busy and you’re really, really interested in the art of photography, maybe I could take you down there and let you see how exactly I work my magic.”

 His offer completely threw Emma off-guard. There was nothing dishonest in his face-and Emma was excellent at spotting a liar. He just seemed to wish to spend some time with her.

And she’d have been lying to herself if she didn’t want to do the same.

Plus, it was an extra five minutes out of the office.

“What do I have to lose?” she chuckled. “Five minutes?” With a triumphant smile, Killian offered her his arm and led her down to his photography studio.

The studio was messier than it was the last time she was in it; candy bar wrappers and empty water bottles littered the desk, two hoodies were strewn across two different chairs and the bin was overflowing.

“Yes, pardon the mess,” he stammered, lifting one of the hoodies and wringing it in his hand nervously. “I had forgotten about the disarray it was in and hadn’t thought about it when I invited you over.”

“It’s no worse than my own apartment,” she said. His shoulders immediately dropped at her words, a sigh escaping his mouth.

“Come, let me show you what I do,” he said, sitting at his laptop and pulling a chair over for her. He brought up the image of the Swan from a few weeks back, with her fight with Fiona. Emma prayed desperately that her blush would leave, and pulled her hair into a ponytail. “This is the picture before I got my pretty little, uh…..hand on it.” And went into his folder and brought up the image Emma recognised form the cover. It was zoomed in on her, more focussed, her hair lightened, the strain and weariness on her face visible, but her posture stood out as she stood victorious. The lines around her family crest were sharper, making it stand out and drawing her eye. She felt a surge of pride in her chest knowing that people would see that on her. She blinked away her tears furiously.

“So, you make the photos look better?” she asked as she swallowed the lump in her throat.

“Not just better, cover-worthy,” he said. “Make it sharper, play with focus, amp up the colours and voila.”

“So you’re a glorified photoshopper?” she teased, thankful her eyes had dried.

“Oh I am much more than that, Miss Snow,” he replied, but he still had that easy going smile, that relaxed posture. “I am the one making these photos look engaging. I am the man who makes people stop and look at us. I am the reason this whole business is running.”

“Okay, now someone’s being cocky,” she smirked, shaking her head.

“Well, of course Zelena makes some contribution. As does her personal assistant, without whom she would be floundering.”

“And now you’re buttering me up,” she sighed, standing up. “Well I should get going.”

“Of course. Wouldn’t want to company to collapse because you weren’t there to forward on Zelena’s emails, would we?” Emma rolled her eyes as she made for the door. “I’m being serious.”

“You’re being sweet,” she called over her shoulder. “And it’s appreciated.”

“And if you ever need a refuge, you know where to find me.”

Emma couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she walked up to her floor, and she didn’t try to either.

                                                                                             ******

Graham straightened up as he saw Emma walk through the door, blonde hair now pulled back into a ponytail. He commanded that his heart stop its incessant pounding as she took her seat across from him.

This was it. This was the moment he had been building up to for six months. The day he finally took the plunge and asked Emma out.

He had been crushing-no, not crushing. He refused to use the word “crush” to describe Emma. He wasn’t a lovestruck schoolboy staring at a girl as she passed him in the hall. He had had feelings for Emma for six months now and for the last two months, had convinced himself at every opportunity he could he’d ask her out. He’d gotten tickets to some play, some band was coming to town, a new restaurant had just opened. And yet at every point he had chickened out.

But now, Zelena had gifted him with a golden opportunity. The gala. She would be there, he would be there, a black suit and tie event. All he needed to do was officially seal the deal and ask her as his date.

“Where have you been?” he asked, noticing how she seemed lighter than she was when she had left. Happier. That water break must have done wonders for her.

“Oh you know, taking in the wonders of the water cooler.” She still had that open, dreamy smile on her face and Graham’s plans halted in his mind as another possibility took over it. “I talked to Killian for a bit.” It was as if Emma had read his mind and wanted to confirm it.

She was sitting there with a ridiculously cute and happy smile on her face, she was practically bouncing, and her cheeks were still pink.

Graham sighed inwardly and turned to his computer, disappointment crashing over him. Even if Emma hadn’t admitted it to herself, she clearly had feelings for Killian. And what kind of friend would he be if he made her turn away from them?

                                                                                                ******

Anna lifted two more dresses off the rack, not even the sale rack, and skipped off to the dressing room, Emma rolling her eyes and following in tow. When she had agreed to a day out with Anna to go dress shopping for the gala after work, she had expected to find one cute enough dress in the first shop they went to. This was the third and Emma still hadn’t found one she liked, and Anna approved of, the latter of which was infinitely more difficult. Her feet were aching and her legs were practically jell-o at this point. She half-hoped for another burning building.

But even with her weary muscles, Emma couldn’t stop the small smile on her face as Anna flitted through the store to the dressing room, humming some kid’s song under her breath and pausing to look at some multi-coloured knitted scarf. Anna was Anna, crazy and bubbly and distracted as she was, and Emma wasn’t sure she’d want her any other way.

“Okay try this one on first.” Anna thrust a soft blue number into her arms and shoved her into the changing room before she could even protest. And to Emma’s utter dismay, she shook her head when she came out.

“Anna, we’ve been doing this for hours,” she complained.

“An hour and a half,” Anna corrected. “But I have a really good feeling about this one.” She threw a short red one at her and motioned for her to go back into the cubicle. “I’ll make it up to you!”

“You better.”

The red one really was better. The skirt reached to her knees and was loose enough to be comfortable but not so much that she worried about a Marylin Monroe incident. The dress was sleeveless with a low neckline, decorated with sequins.

 “Emma, come on,” Anna called from outside. When Emma padded out to her, Anna gasped. “This is it. This is the one.”

“It is?” Emma could have danced. “We’re done?”

“Yes we are,” Anna chuckled. “Hurry up and pay, Elsa’s ready to meet us at the Starbucks up the street.”

After changing, Emma linked arms with her sister and made her way to the counter.

                                                                                                                ******

The night of the gala, Emma was adding in some red earrings and strapping up some black high-heeled sandals that she had kept in her closet since her college graduation. Anna had been around earlier to apply make-up and she had outdone herself with a smoky black and grey eye-makeup and red lipstick.

Graham’s knock at the door was perfectly timed; she had just finished strapping up her shoes. She opened the door to find Graham in a full tux, a pretty big change from his usual shirt and jeans routine.

“You clean up well, Humbert,” she teased, adjusting the hem of her skirt slightly. Graham on the other hand couldn’t seem to close his mouth.

“You look amazing, Emma,” he muttered. Emma shifted uncomfortably when she saw red spread across his face and decided to get their night moving, hoping to cut through the dense atmosphere.

“Come on,” she said, offering him her arm. “I need you to help me down these stairs in heels.”

                                                                                                ******

Graham let out a low whistle as he followed his sat-nav’s directions and pulled up outside Gold’s mansion, where the gala was being held. A red carpet led right up to the double doors of the massive red brick house, French windows decorated with fairy lights and photographers flashing their cameras, making Emma dizzy. Briefly, she wondered if Killian was among them.

As Graham helped her out of the passenger seat, Zelena’s black car pulled up next to them. How she managed to keep it looking new despite the fact she owned it for years was a mystery to Emma.  She stepped out in a tight black dress and stilettos, her hair pinned up in a bun with emerald hairpins.

“Miss West,” Emma greeted, not entirely sure what to say.

“Emma. You look nice,” Zelena said. “Come on.” Before Emma had a chance to respond, she was walking in the direction of the mansion and Emma was stumbling after her alongside Graham. “Gold’s obviously going to want to meet with me inside. We’re keeping it quick and snappy. And it would be best if you didn’t talk.”

“Got it,” Emma mumbled while being blinded by the camera flashes. She thanked God Graham was there to make sure she didn’t stumble and land in one of these photographers’ laps.

The entrance was a marble floor and high ceiling with a diamond chandelier and a spiral staircase. Emma felt like she had been sent back to some 1930s murder mystery event. Men and women in white shirts and tight black trousers walked around with trays of finger food and champagne and the sound of violins could be heard in the next room.

“Well we definitely aren’t in Kansas anymore,” she muttered, which got a chuckle from Graham.

“Oh, alert.” Emma looked in the direction Graham had gestured to and saw a thin man with long brown hair, a metallic cane and a slightly disgusted facial expression as he took in some of his guests.

“Mr Gold,” Emma sighed. “Ruthless and cruel but apparently can throw one hell of a party.”

Zelena looked in his direction and drew in a deep breath.

“All right, lets get this over with,” she muttered. Gold noticed her and immediately started moving towards her.

“Miss West,” he greeted with a pained smile on his face. “I am utterly delighted you could attend.”

“Of course,” she replied, her voice smooth but her arm tense as she shook his hand. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world, Adam.” Emma chuckled and disguised it as a cough even though Gold wasn’t paying her any attention. It was like watching two sharks circle each other and Zelena clearly had the upper hand. “Congratulations by the way on your…. Development? Forgive me Adam, so much happens these days its hard to keep track of the little things.”

Emma was sure that if they weren’t at a media covered event, Zelena would have gotten a punch to the chin. Gold took a deep breath and composed himself, baring his teeth.

“No matter Miss West. And we have an extra cause for celebration tonight.” A young woman with thick dark hair appeared and placed her hand lightly on Gold’s arm. “Miss West, I don’t suppose you know my wife, Belle?”

Behind her, Graham choked on whatever he had nabbed from a server’s tray.

“Wife?” he whispered. “She’s about half his age!” Emma huffed in agreement and looked at her, noticed the glass of lemonade in her hand while everyone around her drank champagne, noticed the slight swell in her abdomen.

“Well Belle and I are expecting our first child together, aren’t we darling?” Belle nodded demurely. Emma couldn’t help but take in her smile that didn’t reach her eyes, how she looked at the floor, the tension in her arms. It broke her heart.

 “Oh, Adam that is just lovely,” she smiled. “When are you due?” Belle opened her mouth, but it was Gold who answered.

“Six months from now. So, as I said tonight is another reason for celebration.” He patted Belle’s hand. “What about you, Miss West? Your family, how are they?” Emma new that struck a nerve, Zelena never spoke about her family, but true to form she didn’t show it on her face.

“Oh, you know how it is Adam. I wish you all the best with your child. Especially after what happened with the first one.”

Neither Emma nor Graham had any idea what she was talking about, but if looks could kill, Zelena may just have dropped dead on the spot.

“Indeed,” he growled through clenched teeth. “Come my darling, why don’t we greet more of our guests. I hope you and your employees enjoy the party, Miss West.”

Zelena turned to face Emma and Graham. She had a self-righteous smile on her face, but her eyes were upset, and her hands curled into tight fists.

“You two enjoy yourself. I need a drink after that.” She walked off to the bar.

Graham and Emma made their way to the main ballroom. It was about the size of Emma’s apartment, maybe larger, with a white wall with ornate cold designs. Silver curtains hung at either side of the French windows and the set of glass doors which led out to an immaculately kept garden. At one end there was a long white table covered with finger food and more servers with glasses of champagne.

“I think I am going to take advantage of the free food,” Graham said. “You want to come?”

“I do not want to face down this crowd. But bring me back something?”

“Got it. I’ll look for anything either friend, cheesy or chocolate covered.” Emma laughed as Graham left her for the food table.

“Snow?” a familiar voice asked behind her. She smiled as she turned to face Killian, who wore a black shirt, slightly open, and black jacket with a red trim, his hook replaced by a black prosthetic hand. Emma forced herself to maintain eye contact but damn, did he look good. “You look absolutely amazing.”

“You’re looking pretty well yourself,” she replied. “Although I am fairly certain the invitation said ‘black tie’.”

“Well, it did but it also said ‘the finest champagne in New York City’ and frankly, its average at best.”

“So, in addition to being a photoshop wizard, you’re a drinks expert.”

“I may have a rather refined pallet, yes.” He smiled at her, making her hands twist into the fabric of her dress. “So this is quite the hoe-down isn’t it?” Emma laughed at how wrong the word ‘hoe-down’ sounded in his accent.

“Is that how you think Americans talk?” she asked.

“Well I spent a semester in Texas and it is exactly how they spoke,” he replied, making Emma laugh again.

The musicians changed their tune to some slow, classical piece she vaguely remembered being on the radio.

“Not exactly keeping with the times with this music, are they?” he asked.

“No, but Mr Gold is getting up in the years,” she joked. “Maybe this was the tune of his day.”

“Aye, possibly,” he said. He licked his lip slightly and his hands reached up to scratch lightly behind his ear. “Emma, I hope I’m not being too foreward, but would you do me the honour of dancing with me?”

Emma’s stomach dropped to the floor, two conflicting thoughts battling in her head. One said “say yes say yes say yes” and the other brought up painful memories of her attempts at slow dancing with her first girlfriend Lily during her high school prom.

“I would,” she said, choosing her words carefully. “As long as you don’t mind me standing on your foot.” Killian chuckled and stepped closer, offering her his hand.

“I have a feeling you’ll do grand.” Emma placed her hand in his warm one, sending warmth throughout her whole body and making the smile on her face wider. “There’s just one rule when it comes to these kinds of dances. Pick a partner who knows what he’s doing.”

Emma allowed him to place her hands on his shoulders and for him to place his hand and prosthetic on her waist. She moved her hands until they were clasped at the back of his neck, her thumb running across the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Just follow my lead.” They swayed together in a comfortable silence, small smiles passing between them as Emma’s rapid heartbeat gradually slowed down, not to its normal pace, but so she could feel comfortable but still have the buzz of adrenaline. “You know, Snow, I think you’re too hard on yourself. You are quite good.”

“Shut up,” she said, red creeping across her cheeks. “Where did you learn to dance?”

“Well, my mother taught me,” he said, sadness flickering across his eyes for a moment.

“Your mom?” Emma asked, not knowing what else to say. Her mother had danced with her, but that was just fun, not serious, slow dancing which involved holding another person close like the way she was doing with Killian.

“Aye. She was adamant that my brother and I grow up to be proper gentlemen. Which would involve being able to spin a lady-or man-across the dancefloor with grace and poise.”

“Well she taught you well.” Emma wanted to ask more about his childhood but held herself back. She barely knew this man. She was not going to pry into his childhood.

And she was not staring at his lips. And she was not inching closer to him, tilting her head and parting her lips slightly, her eyes half closed. And his warm breath smelling only slightly like champagne was not on her face.

The sound of a window crashing caused her to jump back from Killian, her hand wrapping around his of its own accord.

The window closest to them was smashed, the glass looking like diamonds on the floor, but that wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was the black robot that had crashed through. It was taller than a human, broader. At the end of one of its arms there was a canon-like device which glowed red. On its blank face there were two glowing red eyes.

The canon fired at the wall, staining it black and burning a crater in it.

Immediately the party descending into panic, people feeling towards the exit as fast as humanly possible. Emma’s eyes scanned the crowds to try to find Graham as she and Killian squeezed through the crowds closing in on the exits.

They stumbled into the lobby, only for Emma to almost trip over the person in front of her as the crowd came to a standstill. A scream shot through the air and Emma felt a weight press on her chest as murmurs slithered through the crowd.

“There’s ones blocking the exit!” someone in front of her gasped. Killian squeezed her hand tightly, terror written all over his face.

Emma didn’t need to think about what she had to do. Killian was scanning the crowd for an exit and she took that opportunity to take her hand out of his and push backwards through the crowd. She squeezed out of the crowd, slipped down a narrow corridor and into a closet containing various light switches.

Hastily, she ripped off her glasses and unzipped her dress. This party needed a hero.

                                                                                                ******

The Swan flew out of the mansion and back round to the ballroom. The robot was still in the window, not moving except for its head, which moved left and right every so often. She focussed hard on the back of his neck and allowed her lasers to shoot out, drilling into it until a sad metallic groan came form it and it fell to the ground.

Wasting no time, she flew over the destroyed robot and into the entrance.

“Look, the Swan!” someone called from below. Gasps rippled throughout the crowd as they craned their necks to see her. Somewhere in the crowd, Emma saw she dishevelled hair and blue eyes of Graham and smiled. He was safe, for now at least.

“They’ve blocked the exits!” someone called up to her. She was surprised when she turned and saw that the voice belonged to Belle, Mr Gold’s wife. Her husband wasn’t around. “The main entrance and side doors. We can’t get out.”

“I can take care of this,” she called back, and Belle immediately relaxed. “I need you all to remain calm.”

The Swan flew over the crowd and landed squarely in front of the robot blocking the main doorway.

“Who are you?” The robot tilted its head to the side. The blank expression sent a chill down Emma’s back. At least with Fiona she was, at least partially, human. Whatever this was, it was just a void staring back at her. “Are you from this planet?” Again, nothing. “What do you want?” The robot raised its arm in response, a red laser firing up inside it. “Okay so we’re doing this.”

Emma wasn’t sure her plan would work, but it was better than nothing. She flew to its side-it was too big and clumsy to respond-and used her laser eyes to cut through the metal, wincing as sparks and shards came close to her, but the arm fell off and the laser died down.

“Now, do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?” she smirked before lasering off its head and watching as its motionless body toppled. She didn’t stay to enjoy her victory, instead flying to the next door, only to be greeted with another robot. “Okay Robocop, let’s do this.” Same as before she lasered the head off it and let it topple to the ground.

A ripple of applause caused her to turn around and face the around. There were even people screaming their appreciation for her.

Emma didn’t take time to stop and appreciate it. She focussed, blocked out the applause and listened closely. She took off down the corridor and found herself face to face with yet another robot. The same routine applied; laser the head off. She supposed she should be happy they were predictable. She repeated the same chore at three other exits before heading back to the main ballroom.

“I think I’ve stopped all of them,” she called to the worried crowd. “But just stay here for now while I keep checking this out.”

“What are they?” Mr Gold asked. He seemed to be the only one not impressed by her, if the tight grip on his cane and gritted teeth were anything to go by.

“Honestly, I am not entirely sure, but we will find out. If you can call police and your loved ones to make sure they know you’re okay.” She didn’t wait for his response before she did another sweep of the building and to her relief she found all other exits clear. She swept back to the crowd to break the good news.

“We’re clear. There are no more robots blocking the exits. I think we’re good.”

It appeared she spoke too soon; one of the robots jerked to life almost the second she had said “good” and began firing up its weapon. The next Emma knew, she was speeding towards it, feeling the head of the blast on her face and shoving it away from the crowd, causing it to make a rather large dent in the wall. When she turned to face the crowd again, she saw Graham facing her, mouth open in shock. She felt her stomach drop at the thought of losing him.

“You said we were safe,” Gold snapped as she lasered off both its arms to be safe.

“Forgive me if I wasn’t totally sure, I’m not used to damn robots,” she replied before she could stop herself.

“Just who are you, Swan?” he asked, her name venomous on his tongue. Emma didn’t give him the satisfaction of a reply, just made another tour of the mansion and disarmed (literally, she supposed) the robots. As she did, she noticed the red and blue lights of police cars flashing outside the window. As well as the presence of a large black van. She felt certain it was the same one she had seen that night with Fiona.

Police, armed with guns, ran through the front door of the mansion, followed by hounds of reporters, no doubt hoping to catch another glimpse of the Swan.

                                                                                                ******

Emma, now once again Emma, the Swan discarded and thrown away, slipped back into the crowd. Everyone else was too distracted by the police and reporters to even pay attention to her as she pushed her way back through the crowd searching for Killian.

“Snow,” he said behind her as he took her hand gently. Emma turned to see his relieved face. He smiled and moved towards her, arms outstretched, before pulling back. “I lost you in that crowd and I didn’t know what to think…..”

“It’s okay, I’m fine,” she sighed. “The crowd was too big, and I couldn’t hold on to you. Have you seen Graham?” She knew he was safe, thanks to her, but she still saw her terrified face in her mind.

As if someone granted her wish, Graham appeared in her line of vision. She squeezed Killian’s arm and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck.

“Hey,” she sighed as he hugged her back. “Graham I was so worried there.”

“I think I need a drink,” he muttered. “Or ten.”

“Tell me about it, that robot arm almost killed you,” she said as she pulled back. Graham’s smile faltered, his eyebrows knotted.

“How did you know about that? You weren’t with me, how did you see it?”

 _Oh shit_ Emma thought. She slipped up, probably a side effect of the adrenaline wearing off. She felt herself growing hotter as she fumbled for an explanation.

“Excuse me, I need you to evacuate this place now,” a dark haired girl in a black uniform said. Tiredly, Emma thought to herself that it wasn’t like any uniform she had seen before, she wasn’t police but clearly wasn’t the army.

She allowed Graham to lead her outside. She gave another smile to Killian Jones as she and Graham made their way to his car.

“Big universe, huh?” she asked. “Sorry about the dance.”

“Oh, it’s nothing Snow,” he said. “You can simply owe me.” Before she could ask what he meant, he nodded and opened his car door. “Safe home.”

Emma nodded and turned to Graham’s car. Graham still had questions, but he wasn’t pressing. She took one look back at Gold’s mansion. The black van near the entrance. It gave Emma an uneasy feeling, and not knowing what the van was for frustrated her a lot, to put it mildly.

But not nearly as much as the fact she was going to have to think up some way to explain to Graham how she saw him when she was nowhere near him. She slipped into Graham’s passenger seat, her weary muscles relaxing into the leather covers he had. Graham looked at her sceptically for a moment, but said nothing.

This was going to be a long night.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you guys accept bad mental health+stress+not being entirely happy with the last chapter as excuses for the long wait?

Emma had spent the hour or so before she fell asleep and the hours between waking up and getting to work debating with herself about whether Graham suspected anything. There was no way he could leap to that conclusion based on one simple lapse in her judgement. There were endless possibilities as to how she could have seen him. Maybe he had forgotten entirely. She didn’t need to tell him.

Didn’t she?

The more she thought it over the less sure she was. Since she became the Swan she and Elsa had agreed that no one else had to know. Just her, Anna, Elsa and inevitably Ingrid. The less people knew about her the better. They would probably be safer if they were kept in the dark. But it was getting harder and harder to keep it from everyone else, from her friends. Not just harder to make up excuses on the stop or pretend, but harder to suppress that part of herself, harder to lie to the people she cared about.

She took care to avoid Graham all morning, thanking God for every errand Miss West had her run and blocking out Graham’s sad puppy face every time she walked out the door. It hurt her, it really did, but she had to stay away from him until she worked out what to do.

Unfortunately, he had other ideas.

“Emma are you avoiding me?” he asked as she sat back at her desk.

“Of course not,” she replied, although her eyes were stuck on her computer screen. “I’m just busy.”

“Emma,” he insisted, moving closer to her. “Emma, is something wrong?”

Emma closed her eyes. She wished that among her many newfound powers was the ability to stop time and just think. Unfortunately, this one was going to be something she had to decide now. Keep living a lie or tell him. Keep yourself safe or tell your best friend that you’re an alien-slash-superhero with the power to lift this very building. Her parents had sent her away to give her a “normal life”, and Ingrid had kept trying to give her just that.

If only.

“Fine,” she sighed. “Fine.” She turned to face him. “When’s your lunch break?”

 

                                                                                                *****

When Emma emerged onto the roof, Graham was already there, hands in his pockets, pacing in a small circle. He looked up at her equal parts expectant and confused. As Emma approached him, she could almost hear Ingrid yelling at her to stop, and Elsa telling her how completely out of her mind she was.

 _Can’t turn back now_ she thought as she reached Graham.

“What’s the big thing you have to tell me?” he asked, a hint of dread in his voice. Under any other circumstances, Emma would probably get a chuckle at that. She turned her head and looked at the sprawling city beneath her; WestCo Tower was the biggest building in her area and it gave her a perfect view of the place, the different colours of the buildings, the green of the grass and the thin blue strip of the sea as she looked farther out.

“It’s a little crazy,” she admitted, turning back to face him. “Just brace yourself.” When Graham nodded, she took off her glasses and shook her hair out from the ponytail.

Her feet lifted off the ground, just slightly. She closed her eyes for a moment, blocking out Graham and revelling in the feeling of complete weightlessness, not opening them until she hit the ground again.

When she opened her eyes, she was greeted with Graham standing with his mouth hanging open, desperately searching for words.

“You, you’re, you’re….” He wheezed.

“Yes,” she laughed, putting on her glasses. “I’m the Swan.” Graham’s eyes went wider than Emma thought humanly possible, and his skin went a shade paler as well.

“Oh,” he squeaked. Emma smiled and grabbed his wrist.

“I’m glad I don’t have to hide it from you.” Graham nodded dumbly, continuing to gape at her. “And I know I have a lot of explaining to do, and I will. But can we do that later?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Sure, yeah, of course, that’s fine, completely fine.” Emma shook her head and led Graham back into the building, smiling to herself as Graham tried to maintain his dignity.

                                                                                                                ******

Emma returned home later than usual that evening, having stopped by the grocery store on the way home to pick up some food; two cartons of orange juice, a bag of chips and a couple of microwaveable meals for one. The joys of living alone, she thought grimly as she opened the door to her dark apartment and flicked the lights on. She found herself wishing that she had taken Elsa up on her offer to move in with her. Instead, Emma had insisted she can and needed to live on her own, find her own two feet. Besides, Elsa’s place was too far from West Co.

But it did have better heating and WiFi than hers did.

She was in the middle of putting her food away when her cellphone rang. The caller ID read “Ingrid” and Emma’s heart sank a little. She knew this was coming, of course she did, Ingrid had always been protective of her, especially with her powers. She hadn’t been as naïve to think it was never coming. She just kind of hoped she’d have figured out a way to wriggle out of it.

She let the call go to voicemail the first time, which led to an angry-looking text reading “EMMA SNOW PICK UP YOUR PHONE NOW”. Followed by one that said, “Unless you’re working or driving in which case, don’t”.

When Ingrid called again, she picked up on the second ring.

“Emma!” Ingrid barked at her, causing Emma to flinch away from the phone. “Emma what the hell were you thinking?”

“I know you’re mad, Ingrid,” she said. “But please just hear me out here……” Emma trailed off, wishing she had thought of a good reason sooner. “I needed to do it.”

“What you needed to do was keep yourself safe,” Ingrid said. “Emma do you have idea what could happen to you now?”

“I know, I know,” Emma sighed. Frustration was building up in her chest and it burned there, travelling up her throat and flooding her face red. “But Ingrid people were in danger and I could have helped them.”

“I know, Emma, and that was amazing, and I could not be prouder. But we agreed to keep your powers a secret.”

“I can’t!” she exclaimed, starting to cry. “I’m sorry Ingrid but I just can’t. I can’t keep it a secret any longer!” The line went quiet for a while as Emma tried to compose herself.

“Okay,” Ingrid said softly. “I’m sorry Emma, I shouldn’t have upset you. How about I come over tomorrow and we can talk it out?”

“Okay,” Emma sniffled. “Okay I can work with that.”

“Deep breath, Emma,” Ingrid reminded her. “I’m not hanging up until I know for sure you’re okay.”

“I am,” Emma said, and it wasn’t wholly false. She was okay, better now that Ingrid had been willing to calm her down and talk to her. “I’m okay Ingrid.”

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” she said softly. “I love you, Emma.”

“I love you too,” she sniffled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ingrid clicked off, the dial tone ringing in Emma’s ear until she hung up and slipped her phone in her pocket. She allowed herself to reflect on that moment; eyes closed, smiling, tears still running down her cheeks. She thanked every god she knew, from this planet and hers, that Ingrid existed and had taken her in. She almost made this planet feel like home.

She shook her head and heated up a microwave dinner.

                                                                                                                *****

“Hey, Ingrid,” Emma greeted the next evening, slight nerves in her voice. Ingrid stood outside her apartment, blonde hair tied back in a braid and nestled under a light blue hat and gold-rimmed glasses sitting delicately on her nose. Emma had always thought that no matter how frumpy she looked, how rushed her outfit was, Ingrid always managed to look amazing. She was the effortless kind of beautiful and Emma was in awe of it.

“Hi sweetie,” she said and pulled her into a tight hug. Another amazing trait of Ingrid’s was how her hugs managed to make all your worries melt away. Emma sighed and nuzzled into her shoulder. “Why don’t we talk?” Emma let Ingrid walk her to the couch and sit down. “Emma, we agreed it was for the best to keep your powers a secret.”

“I know we did,” Emma sighed. “But Ingrid how can I stand back and do nothing when people need me?”

“Damn,” Ingrid chuckled. “That is a good point isn’t it? But Emma I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I can’t get hurt,” she reminded her. “I’m bulletproof, remember?”

“I know. But what if someone rolls up with something stronger than a bullet?” she asked.

“Then that’s something I’ll have to deal with,” Emma admitted.

“Emma,” Ingrid whispered, shaking her head. A pit formed in Emma’s stomach when she noticed the tears forming in Ingrid’s eyes. Emma grasped Ingrid’s hand with both of hers. “I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t,” Emma insisted.

“What if someone finds out about you?” she asked, her head in her hand.

“That’s why I wear the suit,” Emma said. “So, no-one recognises me.” Ingrid chuckled and shook her head. “No one has clocked on. Not even Miss West.”

“Emma, I don’t know if this is such a good idea,” she said. “Too much can go wrong here.”

“Nothing is going to go wrong, I promise,” she said. “Ingrid, please, I need you to let me do this.”

“If I said no, what would you do?” Ingrid asked, locking eyes with her. Emma took in a deep breath. They both knew the answer here.

“Do it anyway,” Emma admitted. “That’s how much this means to me.”

“Why?” she asked. “Why does it mean so much to you?”

“Because,” she began, her voice breaking. She closed her eyes and took herself back to that moment when she was flying. “My parents raised me to help people. And if I have these powers shouldn’t I use them to help people? I can’t have come all this way and have this planet take me in and not give back.”

“If people knew who you really were they’d hate you,” Ingrid told her.

“You don’t know that,” Emma said, deciding now was not the best time to mention Graham. “And even if they do I don’t care. I won’t care.” Ingrid nodded and was silent for a few moments, then she tucked Emma’s hair behind her ear and caressed her chin gently.

“I know there’s no talking you out of this,” she began. “I know you, you’ll argue until we’re both out of breath and then do it anyway. So, I want you to do it my way.”

“What’s your way?”

“You’re not the only one with a huge secret, Emma.” Emma’s eyebrows shot up. She always thought she knew every detail of Ingrid’s life from the stories she would tell her when she couldn’t sleep, about her family, her sisters, how she was the eldest of three but her younger sister Helga died when she was 17 and her sister Gerda refused to speak to her as an adult, how her parents came from Norway to America as teens. She had never imagined Ingrid keeping secrets.

“What is it?” she asked.

“It’s…. complicated,” she admitted. “How about, tomorrow, after work, I pick you up and show you?”

“Okay…. One condition though. Elsa and Anna know too.”

“Emma…” Ingrid sighed, her conflict written on her face; eyebrows knotted together, and eyes closed.

“No, if I know, so do Elsa and Anna. It’s not fair if I know and they don’t.”

“Okay. Okay they can come too.” She took Emma’s face in her hands and kissed her forehead. “And take your little super suit with you.”

                                                                                                *****

The following evening, Emma sat in the front seat of Ingrid’s car, Elsa and Anna in the back, a tense silence between them all as Ingrid kept heading down the motorway. Emma kept her eyes on a leaf stuck in the window-wipers, focussing on it so hard her eyes burned. Ingrid was almost completely still except for the turning the steering wheel every now and then. Emma cast a small, quick glance into the rear mirror to see what Elsa and Anna were doing. While Elsa was looking down at her hands, which were clasped in her lap, Anna was squirming, practically every part of her wriggling with a question she had to get out.

“Ingrid can’t you just tell us where we’re going?” she finally asked. Emma looked over at Elsa, who was trying to hide a smile. Even Ingrid seemed to be amused; even though she shook her head, she was grinning.

“It’s difficult to explain, Anna,” she said. “It’ll be easier for you to see it.”

“Is it bad?” Anna asked.

“You can make that judgement for yourself when we get there.” She turned off the main road and onto a dark side street. It was almost pitch black, save for the lights of the city behind them and some lights along the road. Ingrid kept going for a while before stopping in front of what seemed to be nothing, but after looking for a while Emma managed to make out a large, steel structure.

“This is it?” Emma asked, stepping out of the car, making sure to lift the gym bag that contained her suit.

“This is it,” Ingrid said, her voice beginning to shake.

“Aunt Ingrid?” Elsa asked, looking form Anna to Emma with concern. “Are you okay?”

Ingrid sighed and turned to face the three of them.

“I just hope you don’t think any less of me after this,” she admitted, placing one hand on the car to steady herself. “That after you find out you won’t….” She trailed off with a grimace, not having the will to finish her sentence.

“Nothing could ever make us think less of you,” Elsa assured her. Anna nodded; she had never been good with words, but Elsa had said everything she wanted to.

“Ingrid,” Emma said, crossing over to the woman who had been her mother since she came to his world. “Elsa is right. After everything you’ve done for us, nothing could make us hate you.” She grasped Ingrid’s hand, squeezing it softly. “Promise.”

With a smile, Ingrid squeezed Emma’s hand back.  She took a deep breath to steady herself and walked up the building, still holding Emma’s hand, Elsa and Anna just behind them. Up close, Emma could see a door and a blank screen beside it. When Ingrid put her hand on the screen, a green line crossed over it once, twice, three times, before chiming and the words “access granted” appeared. The door slid open, revealing a long corridor lit up with blue lights.

“Wow,” Anna breathed. “Very sci-fi.”

“You haven’t seen the half of it,” Ingrid chuckled, leading them down the corridor.

“Anna, our entire life is a sci-fi movie,” Emma reminded her, trying to shake the discomfort she had felt since she came into the building. Every part of her body was telling her to get the hell out of there. She kept telling herself that she had enough faith in Ingrid to believe she knew what she was doing.

“Emma, why don’t you change into your suit here?” Ingrid asked. “We can turn our-” Emma assumed she was going to say “backs” but she was too late. Having superspeed did have advantages; she had become the Swan and her ‘Emma’ clothes and glasses were stuffed into her bag.

“Fair enough,” Ingrid said, an anxious smile gracing her face. “Come on, we’re nearly there.”

She turned a corner and led them into a large room that Emma could only describe as some twisted version of her office at West Co. The desks were made of black metal and the computers had pictures of what she could only assume were aliens and UFOs. The workers milled around in black, almost army-style uniforms with thick vests over their long sleeves black shirts and tight trousers tucked into their boots. They all stopped and looked up when they came in, some whispering to each other, some just looking at them, some just carrying on with their work.

“Girls,” Ingrid said. “Welcome to my office. Welcome to the DEO.” She started making her way across

“The DEO?” Anna asked.

“Your office?” Elsa asked.

“It stands for Department of Extranormal Operations,” Ingrid explained, looking back at them, her concerned eyes lingering on Emma for a moment.

“And you work here?” Anna asked.

“What kind of Extranormal Operations?” Elsa continued.

Emma didn’t bother with asking questions. The kind of questions she had weren’t what she wanted to ask in front of her sisters. For now, she just concentrated on breathing and not losing it in front of them while hoping that her hunch was wrong. As well as trying to ignore the guns on the people’s belts and the larger weapons sitting out on desks.

Ingrid led them to a long, silver desk that sat in front of a monitor showing a map of the US. On the desk sat a woman around Ingrid’s age, making a show of looking through some files, but she had been casting glances at them since they entered. When Ingrid came to a halt, she jumped off the desk and discarded the files.

“Girls, this is Mal,” Ingrid introduced, wiping her hands on her trousers. “My boss.”

“Your boss?” Anna said, wrinkling her nose in confusion and looking around the place.

“This is a pretty weird place for a sales company,” Emma said darkly.

“The printing company was…. Well it wasn’t quite true,” Ingrid said, tension building in her shoulders. “A few years ago, when you and Elsa were 14, I was offered a job here.”

“Why?” Emma asked. “I mean how did you even find this place?” Ingrid sighed, taking note of Emma’s fingernails digging into her arms, how she trembled with the effort to keep herself composed. She took Emma by the arm and led her away from the group, into an almost empty section, while Emma simply followed numbly.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Ingrid began.

“Did you take this job because of me?” Emma interrupted, unable to hold herself back.

“Yes,” she answered. Emma shook her head. All she could think about was, why would Ingrid take a job in a place that monitored aliens, and from the look of it was armed and ready, while living with Emma? Did she not trust her? Was she worried she’d turn on her?

“Why?” Emma asked. “Were you, were you trying to monitor me?” Ingrid winced and guilt immediately hit Emma. Not enough guilt to change her train of thought, she was far too stubborn for that, but enough to make her regret this conversation ever started.

“Emma, sweetie,” she sighed. “Do you remember the summer you were 14?”

“Me and Elsa,” Emma murmured. Of course, she remembered, that summer would be burned into her mind forever. Realisation began to dawn on her when she started to think about it and put two and two together.

_“Emma, this is a bad idea,” Elsa whispered furiously, following Emma out of their bedroom window and cautiously rising, holding her arms out for balance. Emma on the other hand was excited, almost too excited, as she looked out at the open stretch of sky._

_“It’s not,” she insisted. “It’ll be fine, trust me.” Elsa still looked unsure, peering down at the ground. Emma took her hand and gave it a tight squeeze. “Trust me, I would never drop you.”_

_“I’m not worried about that,” she said. Emma raised a knowing eyebrow. “Okay a little. But I’m more worried about getting caught.”_

_“We won’t get caught,” Emma insisted. “I’d go too fast for them.” Elsa gave her a sideways glance, her mouth starting to turn up into a grin._

_“You’re sure?” she asked. Smiling, Emma nodded. “And there is no talking you out of it?”_

_“Nope,” she giggled._

_“Fine,” Elsa sighed. “For you.” After taking a deep breath, Elsa climbing up onto Emma’s back and wrapping her arms around her tightly. “Don’t drop me,” she whispered._

_“I won’t,” Emma promised._

_Emma launched herself into the air. For a moment she couldn’t feel anything, not even Elsa’s weight on her back, just the air rushing past her, filling her ears and her lungs. When she stopped, all she could see below her was the tops of trees and houses, covered up by the clouds. She grabbed Elsa’s arm and felt it trembling. She turned her head to the side and chuckled when she saw Elsa squeezing her eyes shut._

_“Elsa, open your eyes, Else,” she whispered. Emma felt the pounding of her sister’s heart against her back and her shaking breath as she opened her eyes. Elsa gasped excitedly and squealed in delight when she saw the ground below her, felt the wind in her hair and eyes as Emma picked up speed._

_“This is amazing,” Elsa laughed in Emma’s ear, barely audible over the wind and the sound of her heart pumping._

_“I know!” Emma shouted back. She carried Elsa around the woods, looping back around when she started approaching the city. Emma had known for a while she’d be able to fly and had practiced in her room, but this was just exhilarating. There was nothing but her, Elsa and this open space that was all hers, and no one to tell her she had to stop or slow down. She didn’t even care how exhausting it was, all she wanted to do was go._

_They landed back on the roof outside their bedroom window, faces red, hair wild, eyes sparkling._

_“That was amazing,” Elsa laughed as Emma opened the window. “Thank you.”_

_“And see?” Emma said. “We never even got caught!”_

_“Didn’t you?” Ingrid asked from behind them, making Emma shriek. They looked down and saw her standing on the porch, arms across her chest, practically fit to burst. Emma could picture steam coming out of her ears. “Get yourselves in the kitchen.” Emma and Elsa exchanged concerned looks, rooted to their spots. “Now!”_

“You were so mad,” Emma sighed. “I thought you were going to murder us.”

“Nearly did,” Ingrid chuckled, pressing her hands together. “But after that, the DEO found us.”

“How?” Emma asked. Ingrid raised an eyebrow.

“Clearly, you and Elsa were not as careful as you thought you were, because you were picked up by one of their satellites.”

“And, what happened?” Emma asked. “They just offered you a job?”

“Not exactly…..”

_Ingrid wanted nothing more than to take the picture frame off the shelf and bash both these women in the face with it. They sat on her couch in their neatly ironed suits, sipping tea from her best tea cups, no less. One black with wavy brown hair pulled into a bun, who had introduced herself as Ursula, the other tall and white and thin with red lipstick and blonde hair, who had introduced herself as Mal._

_“Miss Snow, the fact is you have been harbouring an alien here,” Mal said. “Instead of taking her to a higher authority.”_

_“A higher authority?” she scoffed. “I suppose you would have liked me to roll up to the White House and tell them all about the alien who landed in my backyard?”_

_“That would have been reasonable,” she said dryly._

_“What we are trying to say is,” Ursula interrupted, placing her hand on the Mal’s knee. “Is that this girl is not safe with you.” She brushed an imaginary lock of her brown hair out of her face and gave her a tight smile. “And handing her over to us will be safer not just for her, but for you and your two girls.”_

_“We’ve been safe for two years,” Ingrid told them. “She stays here. She’s not going to some underground lab for you to experiment on her.”_

_“We’d never do that,” she assured her. “Just keep her safe, teach her how to work these powers she has, monitor her-”_

_“Monitor?” Ingrid repeated._

_“For all we know she could be dangerous,” Mal explained. “And keeping her would be the best way to ensure she isn’t a threat.”_

_Something inside Ingrid snapped. She leaned forward and glared daggers at them._

_“Listen you two,” she hissed. “I have lived with this girl for two years and she is the kindest, sweetest soul I have met. If she is the biggest threat the Earth faces, then you should be glad because all she has done since I met her is try to make other people’s lives better. Do you really think an intergalactic terrorist would volunteer at her school’s can drive and walk dogs on weekends?” The two nodded and exchanged concerned glances. “And if you so much as touch one hair on her head, I will bulldoze the both of you so help me God.” Mal frowned and Ingrid could see the beginnings of a plan coming together in her mind. It seemed there would be fight going on in her living room tonight and hoped her girls were heavy sleepers._

_“Clearly, you’re stubborn,” Ursula said. “And you won’t give her up.”_

_“Not in this lifetime,” she said._

_“I have a proposition,” Mal said quietly. “One that keeps her with you, but also on our radar.”_

“So they offered me a deal, I come work for them and they leave you alone,” Ingrid explained. “That way we both get what we wanted.”

“You took this job for me?” Emma asked. She could have cried if she wasn’t stubbornly refusing to. She instead pulled Ingrid into a hug.

“Yeah, I did,” she said. “I mean the pay is better than what I got at my old place.”

“Is that why we went to Hawaii the next year?” Emma asked. Ingrid laughed, but nodded. Knowing the truth, Emma took a deep breath and decided to think rationally. “I’ll work with them. If you trust them.”

“I do.” Arm in arm, Emma and Ingrid re-joined the group. Mal had her eyes closed while Anna kept asking every question she could think of, and Elsa was making no effort to suppress her smile.

“Okay,” Emma said, getting Mal’s attention. “I’m ready to listen. What do you want from me?”

“Excellent,” Mal smiled. “We want your help to extraterrestrial threats. That’s what we do here.”

“Got that from the big space guns,” Emma replied. “So what, I’m on your payroll? Every time an alien attacks you call me?”

“Basically,” she said. “You also come here to train, tell us what, if anything, you know about an alien that may come to Earth, you report to us when you’re about to go after someone. You’re no longer a solo mission, Swan.”

Emma wasn’t sure. Her solo act had worked well for her until now; it had kept the damage to a minimum. And she wasn’t happy with having a boss now. One bad boss in her life was bad enough. But, wasn’t there safety in numbers, and training couldn’t be too bad. And it was either this, or Ingrid fall into hot water.

“Deal,” she said. Mal’s face began to light up, but Emma’s next words shut her down. “With conditions; you’re not my boss, you’re my partner, the mission comes first, reporting to you comes second, and if I need backup I ask for it, I’m not given it because you don’t think I can handle myself.”

Emma didn’t think she had ever seen Ingrid look prouder. Mal stiffened, hesitating before holding out her hand.

“You’re a tough one, Swan,” she agreed. “But you have a deal. Welcome to the DEO.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave comments if you liked, they feed my ego.


	6. Chapter 6

The DEO’s training area was a large circular room with a white floor and walls that looked like they were made of steel. Bright white lights came on once Emma and her trainer, a tall, pretty brunette named Ruby, entered. The ceiling seemed to go on forever; when Emma looked up, she was just met with a bright white light that made her squint. The room was cold too, just enough to make the hairs on Emma’s arms prick up.

Ruby took off her jacket, revealing a red crop to with a toned set of abs, and flicked her dark ponytail over her shoulder. Emma’s tongue darted to the corner of her mouth at the sight. She remained in her Swan costume, deciding it was better for everyone involved if she trained in the same gear she fought in. Emma took a few quick test jumps to get ready. The DEO had made some modifications to the suit, all while Anna protested in the background. The material Anna had used was replaced by something stronger, far more resistant to tearing, fire and bullets. It was also designed to keep her from overheating in a fight and the boots were given some modifications; built in shin guards and new soles, not unlike a pair of sneakers. A really high-tech pair of sneakers. Made for battling aliens in the middle of the desert.

It was also, according to Mal, stain resistant. Which was a nice, if unusual, addition.

“Okay,” Ruby breathed, striding towards Emma. “Let’s start with some warm ups. Come at me.”

“Do we really need to do this?” Emma asked. “I told Elsa and Ingrid, I’m basically indestructible.”

“Maybe, but that won’t win you the fight,” Ruby said, flicking her hair out of her eyes and crouching low. “You need skill as well as strength. Technique. Now come at me.” Emma rolled her eyes slightly but did as instructed; she came at Ruby with full force, a small voice in the back of her mind telling her to slow down or she’d knock the poor girl over, but hey, that was what Ruby signed up for by agreeing to train her.

What actually happened was Ruby caught Emma in the stomach with one arm and grabbed Emma’s wrist with the other. Before Emma could even gasp, she was hurled over Ruby’s arm and landed with a painfully loud whack on the floor, leaving her winded and her head spinning.

“When Ingrid first joined she spent twelve hours a day in here for five months,” Ruby informed her, reaching down to help her up. Not that she needed the help, but it was nice. “If anything, it’s standard procedure. Not because I think you’re weak.” Ruby studied her as she regained her balance. “Although, your technique does need a bit of refining.”

“Oh?” Emma asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Your stance is too open,” Ruby explained with a grin. “Leaves you vulnerable to all sorts of attacks. And you think with your muscles.”

“Okay,” Emma said, thinking it over. “Come at me this time.”

“You sure?” Ruby asked. Emma nodded, holding her left arm across her chest. When Ruby swung at her, she blocked it, swung her around and made to kick her down. Until Ruby hooked her ankle around hers and in a split second, Emma felt herself once again colliding with the ground. “Basic rule of hand to hand combat, cover all your weak points. By just focussing on my arms, you left your lower body completely open.”

“First rule of fight club?” Emma asked dryly, getting up herself this time. Ruby at least chuckled at that.

“Here’s a good first rule,” she said. “Think of the people you’re protecting.”

“The whole city?” Emma responded. “I do. It’s a big ask.”

“Not them,” Ruby answered. “I mean yes, think about them, but think about the people who’d be hurt if something happened to you. The ones who wait up for you at home with one eye on the phone.” There was something in Ruby’s expression, a pain behind her eyes, biting the inside of her cheek, her shoulders straightening as she took in a deep breath.

“Sounds like you’re a little too familiar with this,” Emma said sympathetically.

“I’ve worked here for three years,” she said. She toyed with a red streak in her hair, apparently reading Emma’s face, seeing the question she was too shy to ask. “My grandmother. I’ve lived with her all my life. She’s the one waiting for me.” Another deep breath, a tug on the red streak, a set of her jaw. “And my girlfriend. Dorothy.”

“Oh,” was all Emma could say.

“Yeah um…. Bisexual,” Ruby said, pointing at herself, eyes on the floor. Emma smiles despite the tension in the air. If anyone can relate to this, it’s her. Awkwardly explaining to Ingrid that she’s bringing a girl to the dance even though six months ago she had a not so subtle crush on her maths tutor. Working up the courage to say it to Graham. Whispering it to Elsa in their shared bedroom.

“Me too,” she said, holding out a fist. With an amused, and shocked, smile, Ruby pumps her fist against hers. “Round three?”

“As many rounds as it takes,” Ruby said, getting into position again. “Remember, keep yourself guarded.” Emma swings another punch at her. Sometimes she could keep defending herself, sometimes she could even nearly get Ruby down, but every time Ruby had her back on the ground.

Until nearly four hours later, when the training and tips lock in her mind and she had Ruby on the floor, on her stomach, Emma’s foot on her back.

“Not bad, Swan,” Ruby panted, and Emma couldn’t help but feel proud.

                                                                                                *****

Almost every single day since she started working at West Co Emma hadn’t used the cafeteria. She had nothing against it; certainly not Elsa’s rants about how many calories were in a single bread roll. As far as she was concerned, calories were irrelevant. She could always burn them off doing laps of the city skyline. And it’s not like it tasted bad either; those chemicals and e-numbers her sister hated so much gave the food just a special something, a kind of magic that could only be captured in that white walled, brightly lit world of the cafeteria. What she was against was paying $10 for a sandwich. She didn’t have that kind of money. Well, she did, but the price was so ludicrous she wasn’t paying on a point of principle. She also preferred eating at her desk, shifting through files and sending emails and talking to Graham than searching for a table down there.

However, she happened to oversleep after a particularly rough training session with Ruby, she was lucky her super strength prevented bruising, which led to her rushing out the door, both skipping breakfast and leaving her pasta she made the night before in the fridge,

Which was how she ended up sitting at the one nearly empty table in the cafeteria, Will from accounts was there but he was hunched over his book, giving her nothing more than a nod, and she could enjoy her admittedly great chicken and fries in peace and have a mental argument with herself about why she shouldn’t be getting food from the cafeteria every damn day.

“Ahoy there,” Killian Jones greeted. She looked up to see the photographer with a small smile on his face, clutching a try with a salad, bread roll and carton of milk balanced on it, fingers tapping away at the bottom. “May I sit? Everywhere else is fairly full.”

“Of course,” she said, waving to the seat opposite her. He sat beside the one opposite her. She tried not to take it personally. It wasn’t her, it was him being a gentleman. So, she turned back and tried to lose herself in her Instagram feed. And yet she found herself glancing out of the corner of her eye at him.

And then she saw him pour the milk into a plastic cup and drink it as if it was water.

“Seriously?” she asked before she could stop herself. He looked up at her in surprise, surprised that she was speaking to him, or that she was speaking to him about his drinking habits. “You’re one of those people?”

“Those people?” he echoed.

“Those weirdos who drink milk on its own,” she said, gesturing to the cup on his tray. He frowned, looking from the cup to her and her look of disgust.

“Maybe it’s a cultural difference,” he offered. “Maybe what is strange to you Americans is perfectly acceptable to us Englishmen.”

“Nope, you’re just weird,” Will replied, not taking his eyes off his book. Emma and Killian exchanged an awkward look, their face almost identical; eyebrows raised and biting their lips to keep from laughing.

“Well, okay,” he breathed. “Although to be fair, I’m not technically English. My mother was Irish.”

“Oh, that kind of makes sense. Irish people do all kinds of weird stuff,” Emma said, popping another fry into her mouth.

“See, you judge me for my consumption habits, and yet your meal of choice looks like a heart attack on a plate,” he pointed out.

“Oh, bite me,” she said flatly. “I’d have to eat at least five of these in a row before being in danger of a heart attack. Just so you know.”

“Where did you learn that?”

“Googled it to prove a point to my sister,” she replied, taking a look at his chicken salad. “You’d like her. She eats rabbit food too.”

“I don’t eat ‘rabbit food’,” he said. “I’m just a healthy eater.”

“Is it because you’re Irish?” Emma giggled.

“I actually think it is,” he answered. He set his jaw, his fingers drumming on the table. “My mum was always one for maximum veggies and minimal chocolate. Suppose it came with the territory. But…” He held up a plastic-wrapped cookie that had sat on his tray. “I suppose I do have a sweet tooth.”

“My mom, Ingrid, was like that growing up,” Emma said, choosing her words carefully. She loved Ingrid with her heart and soul, but still struggled referring to her as “mom”. “Ingrid” worked just fine for the both of them. “She kept the rule about no candy on the weekends, no leaving the table until we finished all the greens. She didn’t know about the hidden candy bars in the floorboards in my room.”

He laughed, and Emma noticed how gorgeous his laugh was. Full, but also light and musical.

She adjusted her glasses slightly.

“So, you were a little rebel back in the day, Snow?” he asked, leaning back in his chair, one arm over the back seat.

“Oh, completely,” she deadpanned. “I was the trouble maker of the litter picking team.”

“You did not do litter picking as a child,” he said. Emma raised an eyebrow. “Aw, that’s cute.”

“I’d love to see what you were like as a kid,” she said. “Let me guess, the brooding loner with an affection for leather jackets and a penchant for rule breaking?” She finished off her statement by gesturing to his black leather jacket worn over his white shirt. That jacket, with the messy black hair and chain around his neck, did give him a bad of a bad boy vibe.

“Half right,” he said. “Loner, yes. Bad boy, no. I was the pinnacle of a law-abiding citizen. I was in the church choir and everything.”

“That’s adorable,” she teased. “Bet you were the most angelic voice in the choir.”

“Well, that’s what my nan said, and who am I to argue with my nan?” he asked while unwrapping the cookie. He broke it in half and handed the bigger half over to Emma.

“I can’t,” she protested, shaking her head.

“Yes, you can.” He placed it on her tray. “It’s your reward.” He huffed a laugh when she raised her eyebrows. “You got my child-self half right, you get half a cookie.”

“So, if I got the whole thing right, I’d have got the whole cookie?”

“Perhaps,” he said with a wink. The wink sent a shiver down her back, a pink blush creeping across her face that was identical to his.

Suddenly, a tremendous shake ran through the room, causing framed certificates off the walls, tables to nearly fall over, cracking a few windows, overhead lights to swing. It dragged on and did not show signs of slowing down, long enough for windows to shatter, one of the chords holding the overhead lights to snap and leave it swinging dangerously above their heads. The shock from the unexpected and vigorous movement had Emma’s head spinning and she felt as though her stomach was going to drop out from under her. Emma and Killian looked at each other, his mouth hanging open, her jaw clenched, both their eyes wide. Out of instinct, he grabbed her arm to steady her as a second shock went through the room. When she looked up, she saw cracks beginning to form in the ceiling. The whole roof would cave in if this didn’t stop.

She and Killian ran out of the cafeteria, swept up in the sea of people hurrying through the doors despite urges from security guards not to panic, that this had a normal explanation…

Yeah, right.

Killian and Emma stopped dead in their tracks when they passed the window and saw what the cause of the quake was. On the road outside West Co., blocking the traffic, there was a single man, dressed in an all-black ensemble, tight black trousers and shirt, but the flowing cape gave it away the most. He looked like he had stepped out of an anime that was Anna’s guilty pleasure. From there, Emma couldn’t see what he was holding, but he clapped his hands and another quake set the building shaking.

“Snow, come on,” Killian said, pulling her to away from the window and in the direction of the emergency exit. They could only just see the glow of the EXIT sign above the door with the sea of people filling the hallway.

It was a no-brainer, really. Emma looked at Killian, his attention entirely focussed on the crowd; his eyes wide and teeth clenched as he took quick, deep breaths. She slipped her hand out of his and crept away from the crowd and around the corner.

“Emma?” she heard his panicked voice call. “Emma?!” A pang of guilt hit her chest, as well as a fluttering in her stomach.

Still, Killian could wait. Right now, he, and the rest of the city, needed the Swan.

                                                                                                                ******

The Swan planted herself down on the road, mere feet from this new villain. Up close, she could see he was around her age, dark hair, dark stubble and a glint of insanity in his eyes. A wicked smirk flashed across his face at the sight of her.

“The Swan,” he laughed. “Well, I guess they are sending in their finest.”

“No one sends me anywhere,” she responded. “Now how about you put away your shiny new toys and we can forget this ever happened?” He laughed, but it was devoid of humour. Just a hollow, empty sound.

“I could do that,” he said. “Or I could do this.” He clapped his gloved hands and send another earthquake to shake the ground. Emma put all her focus into staying upright, her eyes darting to the shaking building of West Co. and then to the cars in front of and behind her, hearing the fearful screams of their owners. She could only imagine what it would be like inside and her gut churned.

“Nice gloves. Guessing you didn’t pick them up at the mall?” she asked, stepping closer again. He clenched his fist and she saw that the gloves must have been made of black metal, red lines surrounding the base of each finger. “Mind telling me who hooked you up with them?”

“Not today, Swan,” he said, moving to clap again.

Emma sent a stream of cold air from her mouth, aiming at his hands, trapping them, then going for his feet. When she stopped, she saw the string of ice she had made along his chest by mistake, frost along his collar bone, and how his feet were linked together by a thick strip of ice. Well, nobody’s perfect, but the job was done. His hands, and more importantly, the gloves, were encased in two ice cubes, and he had no way of fleeing.

“Oh, that’s cute,” he remarked bitterly.

“Now you can tell me who got you those?” she asked. “Or why you’re wearing a cape?”

“You’re wearing a cape,” he pointed out. She shrugged it off and kept staring at him, watching as his face changed; the narrowed eyes growing wider, mouth opening as he started gasping rapidly, his body tensing quickly. “God that’s cold.”

“And it’ll get colder,” she said. “So why don’t we make a deal. You tell me what I want to know, and I’ll melt those ice blocks a little.” He paused, thinking about her offer, all the time his body grew more tense and his gasps grew shorter in length and higher in pitch.

“Deal,” he panted. “I got them from some lady selling them near my place.”

“She was just selling alien gadgets off a street corner?” Emma scoffed.

“I live in Petersland,” he said. “Ever been there? You with your superpowers? Think they’ve ever been there in their silver Mercedes and high-up jobs? It’s a dump. Houses get set fire every other week and no one bothers to clean it up. Kids live on school dinners and adults live on cigarettes and stale bread. So yeah, lady comes up and starts selling new gadgets, I’ll check it out.”

“What did she look like?” Emma asked.

“I didn’t take a picture. Dark hair, dark eyes, kind of small, really pretty?”

“Did she tell you how they worked?”

“Yep. She told me that all I needed to do was c-clap my hands and I’d level a city block.”

“Okay,” Emma said. “Don’t say I never keep my word.” She shot her laser to his left foot and applied enough heat for the ice to begin melting on its own. She knew from experience that if she tried to melt it on her own she ran the risk of zapping him and she wasn’t spiteful enough to do that.

No matter how much it tempted her.

“Anything else I should know?” she asked as police showed up behind him. And of course, the black van of the DEO. “Think about your answer carefully or you could be getting hauled off to prison in a set of pre-prepared ice-cuffs.”

“She said… She said that she wanted to see me face off against you,” he said. “Wanted me to draw you out.”

“Me?” Emma asked. “Why?”

“Just the messenger, hon,” he said, a smirk flickering across his pale face.

Screw it, Emma thought. A laser to the foot was a worthy punishment for that comment.

The police began filing out of their cars, guns raised, and Mal jumped out from the DEO van, Ruby at her side. They casually strolled to the police, flashed a badge, and dodged around them to Emma and their soon-to-be newest prisoner. While Mal’s face remained stony, Ruby was smiling and slipped in a cheeky wink at Emma.

“Nice work,” she mouthed.

“Thank you, Swan,” Mal said. “We’ll take it from here.”

“No,” Emma protested. “I need to talk to him.” Mal frowned, turning from him to Emma. Emma took a step closer, pushed her hair behind her shoulder and lowered her voice. “He wasn’t working alone. He said someone sent him. And that someone wanted him to find me.”

“Come by when you can,” Mal whispered. “He’s under our jurisdiction now.”

Emma stood back and watched as he was loaded into the back of the DEO’s van and the van took off, getting smaller and smaller until it was out of sight entirely. The police climbed back into their cars, some casting her dirty looks, some smiling. Camera flashes went off around her. Ambulance sirens wailed in the distance.

Two things stuck in Emma’s mind from that encounter. The first was his message for Emma; someone wanted her to come out, to fight. To test her? To try to hurt her. She guessed all she could do was hope that he had answers and was willing to give them up.

The second was what he had said about his life. She had to admit that he had a point. Even on her own planet, which she had considered a paradise, there had been people living in the streets, but when her parents were in charge they cared. They tried to help. People weren’t as fortunate on this planet. The government was rarely competent at protecting its people, especially those who didn’t have enough money to matter.

Emma was back in the West Co. building before anyone could even notice she had been missing.

Almost anyone.

“Emma!” Killian exclaimed, eyes wide when he saw her through the crowd of West Co. employees who were scurrying back to their offices, some eager to start jotting down their notes, some desperate to call home. Killian ran up to her, stopping at the last minute, pulling his arms back. “What happened to you? I just turned around and you were gone!”

“I know, I’m sorry, I needed to call my sister,” she lied. “I had to let her know I was okay.” He nodded, but his eyes were still bright with panic. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

“It’s okay,” he said, forcing a smile. “You’re safe now and that’s all that matters.” His smile didn’t quite meet his eyes though. His hand reached out and pulled her lopsided sweater up onto her shoulder. Seemed she wasn’t as quick changing as she thought.

“I should go to Miss West,” Emma said. “She’ll be going insane up there.”

“I should grab my camera,” he replied. “Get the best shots in before anyone else.”

She turned to go, adjusting her glasses as she ran off down the hall, still feeling his eyes on her.

                                                                                                ******

Emma ended up spending her night at the DEO, instead of her plans to send a few emails, take some Buzzfeed quizzes and watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine all while tucking into an overflowing bowl of pasta. She was leaning against the wall, watching their newest inmate, now ice free but his hands cuffed behind his back, sitting on a chair and scowling at Mal, giving her what looked like one-word answers, but she couldn’t hear through the one-way glass.

“Nice work out there today,” Ruby said as she approached, her hair pulled back into a bun, red streak neatly hidden away, wearing a tight black jacket and trousers, carrying a brown cardboard wallet. She looked different, un-Ruby like. If it weren’t for the slightly winged eyeliner, the grin and the spark in her eye, Emma didn’t think she’d have recognised her.

“Thanks,” she said, looking back to the interrogation. “Any info on who this guy is.”

“A Mr Nick Branson,” Ruby answered, opening the file. “Grew up in Petersland, had trouble in school shoplifted, ran into trouble with the police a few times. Kept a pretty low profile for the past ten years, worked in a drive through Starbucks.”

“How does a barista get his hands on tech like that?” Emma asked. Ruby shook her head and leaned against the wall, mirroring Emma. On the other side of the glass, Mal stood up and left Nick alone in the room, coming out to meet Emma.

“I’ve talked as much as I can to him. He doesn’t seem to be cracking. You’re welcome to try,” she offered. Emma gave her no more than a nod before going into the interrogation room and seating herself opposite him.

“Hi, Nick,” she greeted. He offered a raised eyebrow in response. “Okay I’m new at this so let’s just cut to the chase; who gave you the weapons?”

“And I already told you. Pretty lady was hanging around my neighbourhood selling stuff,” he responded. Emma decided to go old school, dig out a superpower she had had long before coming to Earth. Not laser eyes or strength or flying; her lie detector. Even back on Storybrooke she had been able to tell when someone was telling her a lie when she looked hard. Her parents and later on, Ingrid thought it impressive, others thought it spooky. Still, it was 99% effective, so it was worth a try.

And it told her Nick wasn’t lying. He had no idea who this woman was.

“Did she say why she wanted to fight me?” she asked. Another head shake, eyes on the floor. Again, the truth. “Okay,” she breathed.

She left the room with no more answers than she entered with.

“He’s in the dark,” she told Mal. “He doesn’t know who gave him those weapons or what she wants with me.” Mal nodded, her red lips pressed into a thin line.

“Come here,” she said, leading Emma away from the interrogation room, down a corridor and into another room with steel walls and a grey table. The gloves Nick had used sat on the table. “Do you recognise them.”

“Sure, I’ve seen a few planets with them,” Emma replied. “Approaching the table. “Some planets used them for war weapons, others to try to alter their eco systems.” She studied the gloves, looking for some familiarity, fingers tracing over the cold metal and into the ridges.

She found it. She found familiarity in the symbol on the back, no bigger than the palm of her own hand. The same symbol that she was wearing on her chest.

Her family’s coat of arms.

She wanted to throw up.

“Emma?” Ruby asked, noticing how tense she had suddenly become. “Emma are you okay?”

Her family, her planet, didn’t export weapons on an intergalactic level. They were only traded around Storybrooke itself. Meaning that this weapon can’t have come from any planet other than her home.

“This weapon,” she said, her voice hoarse. “It’s from Storybrooke.”

                                                                                                ******

Emma needed a donut. It may have seemed trivial after her realisation at the DEO that had cut right into her, but she was a comfort eater, and the sugar would provide some distraction for her if nothing else.

So, on her drive home, back in Emma-wear, she swung by the store a block from her place. Open 24 hours a day, it was convenient when she needed to grab bread or milk or some random household necessity. It was a god damn heaven send when she needed a sugar fix.

Elsa didn’t need know about the times she’s driven down at 11:30pm for a pastry.

She strolled into the near empty store; the only occupants seemed to be schoolkids coming back from a party and the clerks who looked vaguely zombie-like behind the counter. She gave a wave to one blonde clerk with whom she’d become slightly familiar with on her regular sugar runs and made her way to the bakery at the back of the store, where an array of baked treats was waiting for her. She poured over the selection before choosing the chocolate filled donut covered in white icing, a long-time favourite.

When she turned to go to the counter, she saw a familiar face sitting in the coffee shop, just a few feet from where she was standing. Killian Jones was reclining in one of the leather armchairs, cardboard cup of coffee in hand, in an easy conversation with someone she had never seen before; a tall woman with wavy dark hair with a denim jacket draped over the back of her seat and had a red and black backpack at her feet. Even from there, Emma could tell how pretty the woman was. And how she seemed to hang on to Killian’s every word, and vice versa.

She didn’t know why her face suddenly grew very warm. It wasn’t as though she had caught her boyfriend cheating on her. Killian wasn’t her anything. So logically, the sight of him laughing at something a good-looking woman had said shouldn’t cause her to feel anything at all.

And yet….

He noticed her when he took a glance up, acknowledged her with a wave, eyes lighting up. She gave a stiff, awkward wave back in reply. The other woman turned and looked at her. Not rudely, not coldly, she had a small, pleasant smile on her face, and she turned and asked Killian something. He nodded before getting up and coming over to her.

“Late night snack, Snow?” he asked.

“Could ask you the same thing,” she replied. “If coffee really a good idea at this time?”

“Probably not,” he admitted. “But you know, night out, nothing brings it to an end like a coffee.” Emma nodded, her eyes moving to Killian’s companion, who was checking something on her phone. Killian followed her line of sight.

“Yeah,” he chuckled awkwardly. “Milah. Old friend of mine. Ran into each other, completely by chance, I didn’t even know she was in town. So we met up, went to that little Italian restaurant near work.”

“Sounds nice,” Emma said. In her mind, she began working through the obvious signs. Killian was dressed significantly smarter than usual; a black suit jacket over his blue shirt, discarding his usual leather, top button undone, Milah was wearing a tight grey top that complimented her figure wonderfully, and they went to an Italian restaurant.

He was on a date.

And she didn’t care. Why would she care?

“Care to join us?” he asked.

“I can’t, I’ve got to get home, there’s some stuff I need to get done for Zelena. But… see you at work,” she said, trying to sound enthusiastic. “Enjoy your night.”

“Aye, you too, Snow,” he said, his face falling slightly. She didn’t want to fool herself, but she would have sworn he looked disappointed.

In the car, she took a generous bite out of her donut and rested her head on the steering wheel, letting out a long sigh before driving home.

                                                                                                *******

Above Earth, sitting just out of the range of Earth satellites, Regina looked down at the planet below her, sneering. She turned her attention to the screen on her wall; a wave of her hand brought it to life. The Swan-the name she chose to go by-freezing Mr Branson, stopping him from using the present she had given him. Another wave and the image changed to her facing off with Fiona, or rather, the Black Fairy, electricity coursing through her body, freezing Fiona. Even the footage of her first little adventure, holding that crumbling building up.

“Oh, little Emmarae,” she sighed. “You are a real hero, aren’t you?” She reclined back in her chair. “Let’s see how you do next time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked :) Comments are always appreciated.  
> Also quick note to remember: this fic is based on a show that's based on a comic book. So comic book rules are going to apply here.


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